Constant Alternator Issues?

[MrGeekFreak]

Alright, about six months ago, my car's original alternator from the factory began to die on me. I didn't think much of it, as it was approaching 26 years old, and promptly swapped it out for a AutoZone refurbished one. I also got a new battery at the time.

Now, I know that AutoZone branded things aren'tthe best quality in the world, but it was my only option for a quick replacement. It ran great for about three months, then started displaying the same symptoms that indicated the last alternator's death. Dimming of lights as I drove, radio randomly shutting off, and the car dying if I idled for too long.

So, I brought it back to AutoZone, they replaced it free of charge, and sent me on my way. It had been working beautifully up until today, when I was driving to work. The radio randomly shut off, and then came back on. I then got the BATTERY indicator in the dash, along with the ANTILOCK light. As I was pulling into the parking lot at work, all of the interior electronics shut off, and the engine began running incredibly rough. I barely managed to get it into a spot, but now it is dead again.

I loosened up the belt a bit, as it was incredibly tight, but otherwise nothing looked out of the ordinary. I'll have no problem getting a jump to make it back home, but I'm really curious as to what the problem might be.

Is AutoZone branded hardware really that unreliable, or does something else seem to be the underlying cause?

[dashboardmonkey]

Its kind of a crap shoot with their stuff, but two in a row?

Check your grounds, it sounds like a deeper issue than just vato-zone stuffs fault.

[Skunkworks]

Yes its that un reliable, but be sure that your chassis ground is in good shape, as well as your positive cables, Have your battery checked as well.

If you have a large amp that can kill an alternator by putting additional load on it.

[unevolved]

It wouldn't surprise me if you've got two bum alternators in a row from a house brand rebuild. I've learned it's worth the extra cash to get a GOOD alternator, if nothing else to solidly rule out that possibility when chasing problems. A finicky alternator can cause all kinds of problems.

[MrGeekFreak]

About two weeks ago, I was driving home from work, when my lights started to dim and my radio turned off. Being incredibly familiar with these symptoms, I pulled into the closest parking lot and called mi padre. He gave me enough of a jump to drive to the nearest AutoZone, where I had my alternator and battery tested.

The alternator was tested multiple times, passing every time. The battery wasn't charged up enough to test, so they offered to charge/test it, which apparently they can do at the same time, for me. After about 20 minutes, the guy helping me said that although it wasn't charged up 100%, it looked to be bad.

Since it was purchased from O'Reilly's, and it was getting to be late, I headed over to the store nearby. The clerk there said the battery was close to completely dead, and the charge would take around an hour. I thought this was weird, but left and came back about 45 minutes later. The battery tested out fine.

After re-installing both the battery and alternator, the car ran fine for about one week. But, soon after, I was back to being stuck on the side of the road.

I decided to unplug my amp, and after a good charge, everything seemed to work fine again. Until, that is, about a week later, the exact same thing happened...

When the car is running, the voltage at the battery is only around 12.0v, which seems topoint to the alternator as the problem. But, the battery light in the dash is always really dimly lit. Now, I know this really isn't a safe method of testing the alternator, but I unplugged the battery while the car was running, and it still ran fine.

After a short drive this morning, I currently have the car sitting in the garage and have been periodically checking the battery's voltage. It began around 12.45, and around three hours later, hasn't changed.

Where should I start with checking the grounds? I noticed that the insulation for the grounding strap running from the valve cover is slightly ripped in one section. Could this be causing problems?

[Skunkworks]

Check all of your chassis grounds and make sure that all of your fuses are German style fuses in the correct amp rating. Is your amp shutting down with the stereo

[MrGeekFreak]

Check all of your chassis grounds and make sure that all of your fuses are German style fuses in the correct amp rating. Is your amp shutting down with the stereo

I don't really have it on often, typically only when I'm on a long drive. At the times my car has died, it wasn't on.

Could the one slightly ripped ground strap going to the valve cover be causing this? What grounds would be most suspect?

And with the fuses, what do you mean by German style?

[Skunkworks]

All grounding straps are important. Double check your trunk ground at both ends.

The German fuses are solid colored. Not like the newer style transparent fuses of today.

The German ones blow faster which is a good thing.

[MrGeekFreak]

Well, I think I managed to fix this. Thinking that maybe something was wrong with a ground strap somewhere, and that the alternator was, in fact, functioning, I went to test the voltage ON the alternator itself.

As I removed the rubber boot covering the positive terminal, I was greeted by the sight of an unbelievably rusted terminal. With a bottle of WD40, and an assortment of wire brushes, I removed and cleaned all of the connections I could find.

I also managed to rip out and replace the ground strap with a tear in it.

At this point, everything seems to be running smoothly again! I am getting ~13.5v at the battery with the car running, where before I only had around 11.0v.

Now we've got to just wait and see if this moment of seemingly good fortune continues!