Alternators...

[MotoAce51]

Ok so you all heard my rant about losing the window in the vibe and wrecking the PT. Well I got my old 97 Lumina from my parents and the first day back the fiance took the car to the mall and it died on the way. Its the alternator... This is like the 5th one I replaced in about 3yrs or so. Is there anything that could be causing this? I plan to remove my subs and amp but I doubt its that but still.

[star_deceiver]

GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! The flames killed it!!!But in all seriousness, it may be getting overheated!

[MotoAce51]

To be honest, the flames were only put on because I needed to distract from the door. Someone backed into me. and the door never matched. The $5 sticker caused you to notice them and not notice the mis matching door.

[Salsa Guy]

What's fail on the alternator? The diodes? If so that means you either have grounding issue or a shorting issue.

[Sublimewind]

Pull the positive cable and put an amp meter between the terminal and battery, see if you are getting an excessive draw.. No problems with batteries though right? no start problems? besides the car diesing and replacing the alt?

[MotoAce51]

Had the Alt tested and they were getting nothing from it. No charge at all.

[Sublimewind]

You said this is the 5th one in 3yrs, what keeps failing? Do you have start problems or does it just fail?No battery problems? I used to live in N. Tonawanda BTW..

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by MotoAce51 »To be honest, the flames were only put on because I needed to distract from the door. Someone backed into me. and the door never matched. The $5 sticker caused you to notice them and not notice the mis matching door.What where the "buick" fender vents put on for?.....lol

[jkm311]

Sorry to hijack, but...Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »I used to live in N. Tonawanda BTW.. AND you live in Central Michigan?Our life paths are too eerily similar... Sabres fan? I ask, given all the ownership swapping going on this week.

[MotoAce51]

They just fail. Will be driving somewhere and everything just quits. No warning until its dead. Volt light comes on but its usually about dead then.As for what fails. I can never get a straight answer.The vents were boredom while I was interning in SC.

[Serj22]

I had a 96 silverado with the same problem, everything was fine, alternators just kept dying. It might be whoever the parts stores contract to get rebuilts, maybe buying a brand new GM one is the answer?

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by jkm311 »Sorry to hijack, but...AND you live in Central Michigan?Our life paths are too eerily similar... Sabres fan? I ask, given all the ownership swapping going on this week.Odd lol... Not much of a Sabres fan really no, not much of a "team sports" fan to be honest... I'm more partial to sports that highlight the individual rather than the "team + the better guys" (extreme sports)And yes, I live in Buffalo though all of the failed Superbowls...lol..

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by MotoAce51 »They just fail. Will be driving somewhere and everything just quits. No warning until its dead. Volt light comes on but its usually about dead then.As for what fails. I can never get a straight answer.The vents were boredom while I was interning in SC.Buy the alt with the BEST possible warranty then... lol... But really, it could be bad cables causing excessive resistance in the system, grounds are awesome for this.. Corrosion on connections can increase resistance.. A cars electrical system is no better than it's connections and some cars are just problem cars... I bet it's a fairly common problem with that car as a whole eating alts..