RE: Alternator/battery prob?

["Paul C. Waterloo" <74543.407@compuserve.com>]

>Friday night, terrible rain/sleet storm in Boston, I drive about
>an hour in  my (new) '91 200TQ. Park the car and leave it for
>about 3 hours. When I  come out, there is _no_ power, not even
>dash or interior lights. Obviously  wont start. I jump the car,
>and it starts right up, runs fine, no problems.  Voltage gauge
>is showing just over 12V.

>An hour later, back in Boston, about a block from my house I run
>through a  huge puddle. Suddenly the Battery, Brake and
>Anti-Lock lights come on the  dash. Also, the Voltage gauge is
>now showing just under 12V. I put it on  the street and turn it
>off, expecting it will not start the next day.

>Next day: starts right up. warning lights are still on, voltage
>just under  12V. I let it run awhile, and adjust the power seats
>quite a bit (which I  should not have done). Turn it off. Now it
>won't start again - barely turns  the starter, makes some very
>bad "stop trying that" noises.


For one, the reason why your car is not starting/almost dead is because the
battery is dead. The reason why it is dead is because it is not being charged by
the alternator and it could have reduced capacity because of age (don't know how
old it is).

This is exactly what happened to my alternator on my 5KSQ. Went through the big
puddles, got the same lights on the dash and indications. When you go through
that big puddle, it is getting the internals of that alternator all wet causing
things not to work and possibly short out. That water is probably also making
some bad connections inside the alternator. Mine did.

I ended up taking it a part after a couple no charge episodes, found that it had
high resistance connections in it. Cleaned them up and it worked for a while.
Ended up taking it in to an alternator repair shop and they put in new regulator
components (I also had a bad diode) for about $65. Worked great.....now ask Paul
Leavano's girlfriend about it, I think it has been replaced since I sold it to
her last summer.

I would consider taking it out and sending it to a repair shop....cheap
insurance

Paul

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Paul Waterloo
Riverside, IL

91 200q

EMAIL: 74543.407@compuserve.com
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