Alternator excitement!

S

Smithcraft

Registered
Hello there!

Just a day or two ago, I was given the dreaded "Check Charging System" warning. The car went dark, and then it came back up right away, so I just put it off as a quirk, and then checked the warning out here when I got home.

Didn't do it in the morning, on the way to work, but it did it coming home. But it never got back to being bright. And I continued to check it out here and else where on the net when I got home.

Why can't I just get a brush kit f'r crying out loud!

Anyway, Sunday it died, and got a ride home. I disconnected the battery and removed the Alternator. This morning I went for a long walk to pick up an Autolite alternator at Shucks. Put it in, and then had a neighbor came over to jump the Mark.

So here is the excitement - If I adjust the panel brightness, all the way up, then go just a bit farther when the map lights come on, and then turn the dial down turning the map lights off, and then the door locks cycle! I've never noticed this before, and I'm wondering what the heck is going on?

There are a few other odd things, like the steering has a slightly higher effort, and the air ride pump seems to be running more. I put off the steering effort as I'm sure the alternator is putting a big draw on the front accessories, and the air ride as the computer relearning the system. But the door lock is just puzzling to me.

Any suggestions?

SC
 
Once you see the "Check Charging System" warning you have a failed alternator. The voltage has to be 9 volts or lower or 16 volts or higher. The battery is not going to like either case.
 
Yeah, that part is taken care of, much to the chagrin of the blisters on my feet, and where my lower back is sore for the alternators banging in to it for ten miles.

So, I'm mostly curious about the door locks working with the panel dimming controls.

SC
 
Smithcraft said:
then had a neighbor came over to jump the Mark.
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Ouch! Talk about trying to kill a brand new alternator! ;(

Smithcraft said:
the door locks cycle! I've never noticed this before, and I'm wondering what the heck is going on?
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The most common cause for this is the faulty trunk harness but I think you have other issues. I had this same issue with my 95, but it was caused by the headlights turning off when I had them on Auto. Never found the cause.... You could have definitally done some damage to the electrical system though by driving it on the battery until it finally died and then again by jump starting it on a dead battery and over working the regulator on the alternator.

Smithcraft said:
There are a few other odd things, like the steering has a slightly higher effort, and the air ride pump seems to be running more. I put off the steering effort as I'm sure the alternator is putting a big draw on the front accessories, and the air ride as the computer relearning the system.
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I'd get a volt meter on that alternator ASAP...it could be over charging the system, which in turn is dragging the engine down, which is showing signs in the steering and the air compressor.

Smithcraft said:
Yeah, that part is taken care of
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I wouldn't be so sure of that. :D
 
Already checked the voltage on the system as per the other posts I read here on checking the charging system. Battery is at 12 volts give or take .05, and the charging system has it at 13.5. Compared to the previous reading of 12 volts on the battery and 11.5 with the previous alternator.

How am I supposed to start the car if the battery is dead?

I've had the car jumped other times when it wouldn't shut something off, and I come to find it's dead. And it has been no worse for wear, or exhibited any odd behaviors like the lock cycling with the panel lights.

If that is all it takes to destroy a charging system, then FoMoCo needs to take it's head out of it's back side and engineer cars for the real world.

Otherwise, the only problem I have with the head lights is that they can't hold up to a candle in a hurricane.

Also, shouldn't the air compressor only come on when the system tells it to come on?

SC
 
As far as the door locks cycling when you turn the dome light off, that is normal. My gen 1's do that, I haven't checked the gen 2 yet.:)
 
Smithcraft said:
How am I supposed to start the car if the battery is dead?
SC
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When replacing an alternator that has run the battery down, it's been fairly well documented here and on the other mark 8 boards that you should "charge the battery" first.

There was a piece of paper with my alternator that said the warranty would be VOID if the battery wasn't charged before installing the new alternator.

Granted, it would have been an "inconvenience" for you to do that, but that doesnt change the fact that putting a new alternator on a dead battery in a MARK 8 that it will 9 times out of 10 KILL the new alternator.

Something many people fail to realize that the average car has 20-30 miles of wire in the car, whereas the Lincoln Mark 8 has 96 NINETY SIX MILES of wire...
that is THREE CARS worth of wire!

SO it's not really a case of "ford having their head in their *ss", it's more akin to "being familiar with the car YOU are driving".
 
It would be an inconvenience? More likely impossible for me. Also the threads I checked here did not mention anything about it killing the alternator.

Billcu, thank you for your answering the question!

SC
 
Smithcraft said:
It would be an inconvenience? More likely impossible for me.

SC
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we changed my fuel pump, in the pits on the ground at the dragstrip
we changed tiffany's lower ball joint on the ground at the dragstrip

impossible or just inconvenient?

granted, lugging a battery and an alternator would have definately been a PITA no doubt.
you might have had to make two trips, that would have been 4 trips in all when you were done.

Since you need to charge the battery, you'd want to take it down there first.
Then go back to the car and get the alternator and go back to the parts store.

Get the NEW alternator and take it back to the car.
Then.. go back and get your {by now} fully charged battery and return to the car.

with that said, it's not even "that difficult".

Oreilly's has a "parts delivery" truck and I've "begged" them into giving me a ride back and forth to the car in JUST this situation.

I needed an alternator, I walked about a mile to Oreilly's and purchased a new battery and alternator under the agreement that they'd give me a ride back to my car.
They took me and the battery and alternator back to the car

it worked like a charm.

was it inconvenient? hell yea, but it danged sure wasn't impossible.
 
I'll second what has been discussed about having a fresh battery when doing an alternator job. Heard that many years ago and always heeded the warning. Yep, it's a PITA, but so is working on a broken down car (most of the time).

96 MILES of wire in the Mark? Whew, that makes my head hurt!:eek::eek::eek:
 
TimKustom said:
I'll second what has been discussed about having a fresh battery when doing an alternator job. Heard that many years ago and always heeded the warning. Yep, it's a PITA, but so is working on a broken down car (most of the time).

96 MILES of wire in the Mark? Whew, that makes my head hurt!:eek::eek::eek:
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LOL...Try running down a short!!! Faster/easier to run a new wire!
 
XLRVIII said:
first search I tried came right up with it..

read the last post

http://lincolnsclub.org/vbulletin/s...t=charge+battery+before+installing+alternator

that post was two years ago, which is what I meant by it has been "fairly well documented".

I knew I'd heard it along time ago.. and I did this when I changed my alternators.
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Very interesting. I must have missed that when I was looking for "Check Charging System." Had I known I needed to search for "charge battery before installing alternator" I would seen that information.

XLRVIII said:
we changed my fuel pump, in the pits on the ground at the dragstrip
we changed tiffany's lower ball joint on the ground at the dragstrip

impossible or just inconvenient?

granted, lugging a battery and an alternator would have definately been a PITA no doubt.
you might have had to make two trips, that would have been 4 trips in all when you were done.

Since you need to charge the battery, you'd want to take it down there first.
Then go back to the car and get the alternator and go back to the parts store.

Get the NEW alternator and take it back to the car.
Then.. go back and get your {by now} fully charged battery and return to the car.

with that said, it's not even "that difficult".

Oreilly's has a "parts delivery" truck and I've "begged" them into giving me a ride back and forth to the car in JUST this situation.

I needed an alternator, I walked about a mile to Oreilly's and purchased a new battery and alternator under the agreement that they'd give me a ride back to my car.
They took me and the battery and alternator back to the car

it worked like a charm.

was it inconvenient? hell yea, but it danged sure wasn't impossible.
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Only a mile? Must be nice. Five miles for me, one way. One guy working in the store, so he can't leave to give anyone a ride. And after walking eight of those miles in the rain, I had no desire to do another trek, that and the blisters and already sore back from the alternators bouncing into it were very strong indicators that another trek wasn't going to happen. With half of the return trip still to go, I was thinking about movies with men lost in the desert. Dropping stuff to make their loads lighter until they are just down to their canteens. Slipping that backpack off and leaving it behind was a thought that I entertained with greater enthusiasm with the seemingly never ending hills I had to climb up! Anyway, two trips would be nearly nine hours, just in walking time.

So for you it might not be "that difficult." I don't live where you do, nor do I live as close to a parts shop as you do. Impossible? Maybe not, but for me it is well past inconvenience almost reaching impossible. Given your conditions, I could have walked all four trips of your trips and been done with the repair, in less time than it took me to make a single one way trip to the shop.

Also, thank you Driller for the information you have posted in the other alternator threads!
 
well I "was" on my way "TO" the autoparts store, as I knew my car was having issues...I wasn't just out cruising around when it died.

I "had" a plan, which goes along way from turning "impossible into only an inconvenience".
 
budpytko said:
With a walk like that, I'd be having me a SPARE tucked away in my house!
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In the trunk! LOL

I helped a fellow Mark VIII owner this past winter with a bad alternator excursion. Once the car died, it was Palm and Blackberry to the resue to get tow truck and locate a alternator. We had the car towed to the parts store and within minutes the alternator was replaced. I put my jump box on the car's battery for several minutes before and after starting the car. However, in this particular instance we later discovered a blown fuse that prevented the new alternator from charging. After it was replaced, all was well.

Well for a couple months later anyways when the 'store brand' alternator puked. :eek:

I had my PA performance alternator die locally a while back. I took the 'other' car to my parts shed to retrieve my 'spare'. Again, I hooked up the jump box before for a few minutes and left it hooked up afterwards for a few minutes.

So, even if not near a battery charger, you can save the alternator from an early demise.
 
XLRVIII said:
When replacing an alternator that has run the battery down, it's been fairly well documented here and on the other mark 8 boards that you should "charge the battery" first.

doesnt change the fact that putting a new alternator on a dead battery in a MARK 8 that it will 9 times out of 10 KILL the new alternator.
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+1

logres said:
Wonder how retailers could know an alt failed in this manner.
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How....? They would figure it out when you come back in a week later with the "new" alternator and it tests bad due to a faulty (damaged) regulator. Ofcourse they won't "know" that you didn't charge the battery, nor would you probably tell them the truth, but indeed, this is what caused it to fail.

Smithcraft said:
It would be an inconvenience?
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It was YOUR idea to CONTINUE to drive the car after you had several signs of the alternator dying!

Smithcraft said:
Only a mile? Must be nice. Five miles for me, one way.

after walking eight of those miles in the rain,

blisters and already sore back from the alternators bouncing

Anyway, two trips would be nearly nine hours, just in walking time.

in less time than it took me to make a single one way trip to the shop.
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Dang..... We're all just here to help, no need to get angry. Again, it was YOUR to continue to drive a car with flashing warning lights and it was YOUR idea to walk all that way. I'm not sure where you live, but couldn't you call someone? A cab, a bus, AAA? :)

driller said:
I put my jump box on the car's battery for several minutes before and after starting the car.

Well for a couple months later anyways when the 'store brand' alternator puked. :eek:

Again, I hooked up the jump box

So, even if not near a battery charger, you can save the alternator from an early demise.
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+3 for jump boxes!!! I drove 4 miles home with my "check charging system" light on and a jump box strapped under my hood. That was worth the 50 bucks right there....saved me a tow atleast!
 
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