Car randomly shuts off

It is just the inconvenience that is caused by the failed alternators... Stuck in traffic, dead battery, towing.

Jesse warrantied his alternator like 8 times now... granted some of those where his fault but I still think Ford Rebuilds are the way to go.
 
Hey now! :D

I wouldn't condemn ALL the alternators I warrantied, haha. I'm pretty hard on my cars.......

Good news that you stood your ground and told him what we've been saying....a lot of mechanics are "Mr. Knowitalls"(like me) and don't take advise from customers. But on the other hand....do you go to your favorite steak resteraunt and tell them how to cook their steak? :D

Max has a good point about crappy alternators, but what is failed to mention, is that most of us replace them ourselves so we're out our time, where as you took your car to a shop so if it fails, you just say "here you go...fix it damn it!" :)

Congrats.......I hope he's installing it for free, since the dumbass said spark plugs are causing it, haha.
 
Well, he didn't install it for free, but my Mark has 99k miles on it, and still on the original plugs, so I needed new ones anyway. I left the shop about 45 minutes ago, and been driving around since then without a single problem. I'm telling y'all, I don't think I could be happier. Thanks for all of your help!
 
Hey Patrick....glad things worked out and we saved you some money! Gotta love the internet :D Heck....you could even become a member and join us more often!
 
P.S. changing the alternator on the cool engine is a 20 minute job.. MAX.
1-belt
two -10 mm bolts
1 -10 mm electrical connector and a plug.
 
J said:
You forgot about the 2 10mm nuts and 2 10mm bolts on the top holding the bracket. :D

How about 2 minutes?

http://mark8.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15500&highlight=2+minute
Click to expand...

I forgot about those two bolts the first time I changed my alternator.
Those two have been rattling around in my tool box for a couple of hundred thousand miles.

On a stone cold engine I could probably match your two minute drill..like I said, it's not rocket science, hell it aint even model rocket science.

forgot to mention disconnect the battery too
 
I've done mine so many times, I don't even disconnect the battery anymore, haha.
 
Me either, I just pull the little boot that covers the connector down so the lead cant hit anything metal on the intake.

But since there are inexperienced people reading these threads, I figured I'd toss in "disconnect the battery" for safety's sake.
 
Well, I know that you guys warned me about the aftermarket alternators going bad... but is it possible that they'd go bad this quickly? Because it seems like it was just a quick fix. Starting two days ago, the electrical system would cut off on me. Not as often as before, maybe once or twice a day, but the engine would keep running. Then, today, I left an hour ago to just go drive around, and lo and behold, the car completely cut off on me... twice, engine, electronics, everything. =(

This is a sad day. Any other suggestions as to what it might be? I just put a new battery in about a month, maybe a month and a half ago. Would it be a good idea to get it tested as the old alternator may have made the new battery go bad this quickly?
 
Patrick said:
Well, I know that you guys warned me about the aftermarket alternators going bad... but is it possible that they'd go bad this quickly? ?
Click to expand...

yup.. that is the exact scenario... some last months, some done even last days before they crap.

My aftermarket alternator gets replaced under warranty roughly every year.

But.. I always charge my battery FULLY before starting the car, so it doesnt "smoke" the new alternator upon start up.

Weak battery will kill your alternator
Weak Alternator will kill your battery

it's a viscious circle.
 
Before I got my aftermarket alt from Oreilly Auto Parts I tried Auto Zone.

I put the alternator on in the parking lot and it was bad from the start.

So I had them grab another alt off the shelf and test it BEFORE I put it on the car, low and behold it was charging at 11.5 volts {bad from the get go}

They tested 4 different alternators before they found one that was above 13 volts, but it only lasted 4 months before crapping.
So I moved over to oreilly and I get "about a year" out of a reman.

Luckily changing the alternator is childs play as described previously in this thread.
 
Patrick said:
Well, I know that you guys warned me about the aftermarket alternators going bad... but is it possible that they'd go bad this quickly? Because it seems like it was just a quick fix. Starting two days ago, the electrical system would cut off on me. Not as often as before, maybe once or twice a day, but the engine would keep running. Then, today, I left an hour ago to just go drive around, and lo and behold, the car completely cut off on me... twice, engine, electronics, everything. =(

This is a sad day. Any other suggestions as to what it might be? I just put a new battery in about a month, maybe a month and a half ago. Would it be a good idea to get it tested as the old alternator may have made the new battery go bad this quickly?
Click to expand...


I told you so...

I would get it tested to make sure...
 
maxmk8 said:
I told you so...
Click to expand...

Haha, I knew someone was going to say that. I'll take it back up to the shop later this week when I've got a day off from work. I swear, I'm going to go hysterical if the alternator only lasted a week. :rolleyes:
 
If the shop didn't "FULLY CHARGE" your battery when they installed the ALT, then they are the reason it died so quickly.

Might be an inconvenince, but make sure they "FULLY CHARGE" your battery before they allow you to take the car next time.

If they dont, then you will no doubt be repeating this process again..
 
Seeing as how they didn't fully charge the alternator before sending me on my way, should I be able to get the free installation next time? I'll get a free alternator because it has a (lol) three year warranty.

Or do you think I should just get the shop to order me a new alternator and try to install it myself? I probably have all of the tools needed sitting somewhere in my garage, and I've got a battery charger that I can use to make sure the battery has a full charge.
 
I bought a used alternator on e-bay from a late-90s Cobra, so far no problems in 10k miles. How many more does it have in it? I have no idea, but it was a great price and I knew it wasn't a POC.

Had it changed in 20 minutes but stood around pretending to work on it drinking beer with my brother in law for at least another hour so that my wife wouldn't bug me about mowing the lawn. "Thanks for calling your brother to help me baby, I don't know HOW long that wold have taken without him!"

A good engineer never NEVER gives an accurate estimate. NEVER.
 
Patrick said:
Seeing as how they didn't fully charge the alternator before sending me on my way, should I be able to get the free installation next time? I'll get a free alternator because it has a (lol) three year warranty.

Or do you think I should just get the shop to order me a new alternator and try to install it myself? I probably have all of the tools needed sitting somewhere in my garage, and I've got a battery charger that I can use to make sure the battery has a full charge.
Click to expand...

If you paid the shop to do the work... i would NEVER ever touch it myself afterwards... because they will claim you did something wrong and void your "warranty" .

Bring it back, and tell them to charge the battery and install a new alternator. That is if your battery is indeed low.
 
XLRVIII said:
Weak battery will kill your alternator
Weak Alternator will kill your battery

it's a viscious circle.
Click to expand...

TRUE!!

Replace both. Forget your warranty. Get good parts and fix it yourself!

Just my thought, but I would hate to worry about a dead battery or alt. every year.
 
I would never let a shop do a job that I was confident I could do myself.

If they want to charge you for the install, I would just get a refund for their work.. go buy my own alternator and install it myself.

If they keep putting "crap" alternators on, and charging you labor for the install..what good is the warranty?

how many hundreds of dollars is "this warranty" going to cost you "in the end"?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top