New alternator?

[marcmsj]

I'm trying to figure out if I have a dieing alternator or not. my dsm is a 92, with almost 130k miles on it. any time i turn my headlights on while my car is at idle, the rpms drop a good amount then go back up to normal. i also noticed that at idle, the dash lights aren't as bright as if it's revved up at like 3k rpm for example. and since i all trim pieces in the rear along with the backseat, i can hear the fuel pump and if i have the blinker on, i can hear the whining changing frequencies... i guess it's not getting enough power. anyway, my question is should i get a new alternator or could something else be causing this problem? bad ground maybe?

 

[2.4 turbo Hyped]

Please dont ever rinse your engine off while its running or even the slight bit warm. Id hate to see one of you warp a head or crack a block. Such a radical quick temperature change is what will cause this.

 

[mitsutuner]

2.4, Your suggestion is not based on evidence & mine is. Reread the forum rule regarding guessing.

 

[2.4 turbo Hyped]

2.4, Your suggestion is not based on evidence & mine is. Reread the forum rule regarding guessing.

Mitsutuner, my dad was a honda mechanic for 27 years. He has witnessed first hand people that have warped heads and cracked blocks and manifolds.

Customer stated "Car drives like crap and has no power ever since I washed the engine"
Service rep: "Was the engine warm when you washed it off"?
Customer states "Yes and I heard a loud snap when I did it"


This was taken direct from a service write up of a car that he worked on 4 years ago.
This little "mistake" the customer made ended up costing $1221.79, due to a warped head and blown headgasket. This was on a 1998 honda accord coupe.

You may get away with it a few times, and if you do, consider yourself lucky. Im not going to risk it though so you have fun with that.

Moderators can you please close this thread so it does not turn into a flame war. Thanks!

 

[JuiceGsTurbo024]

here solves all your problems! look on the back of the ENGINE DEG OR CLEANER and go of that! hahah but i think it works fine if the motor is WARM! NOT EXTREMELY hot or COLD just WARM! what ppl do is DRIVE FOR 20 MIN go to a car wash and the care is high temp and do the whole PRESURE wash hahah and that cracks HEADS! and BLOCKS! but if its warm, warm enough you can touch it with your hand! bec the cleaner works best on warmer engines bec the oil gets warm and the deg works better! but be carefull with electrical stuff and your intake! dont want to much water going in to there and a friend of mine once got hella water in the spark plugs had no spark plug cover! DUMB ASS! hahah had to get it out with a straw! hahahah

and for the real topic of the thread!

you will know when its time for a new ALT when your car turns off in the middle of the intersection! and from what you said i think your alt is fine! your car prob is a DSM HAHAH DSm are Crazy my car has a crazy idle someimtes its cool and sometimes it goes up and down! haha so dont worry about that and you can always take your ALT to a AUTOZONE or Kragen and have it checked for FREE! well good luck with your car! hope this helps!

 

[mitsutuner]

You can safely wash the engine at the car wash if you leave the motor running, done it hundreds of times on over 30 cars. In the Honda scenerio, the motor was turned off.

 

[marcmsj]

so yeah, turns out i was right, alternator was going and i kept ignoring the warning signs. this weekend while driving home, instrument cluster lights just kept getting dimmer and dimmer until car eventually just died. i got a jump and left the wires connected a while to charge the battery a bit which gave me enough juice to get home.

i picked up a new alternator today and will be installing it later today. hopefully my battery is alright, but i'll check that just to make sure...