Fixed Or Repaired Daily. Fofo died

americanrice · Mar 12, 2007

I was driving on the 80/90 on my way to OH from Chicago. Voltmeter shot from 13V to 16V, all the way down to 12V. Wierd, but I just pressed on because the car was running fine. About 20 mins go by, and I check my voltmeter. 11V, another 5 mins, 10V.
All of a sudden, all the gauges drop to the left. No more LCD mileage, no more lcd tripometer. Car is still running! Drove it into a rest stop about 1/2 M up the highway. Turned it off. Wouldnt turn back on. DAMNIT[?|].
Dead alternator right? I'm so mad. Stuck in the rest stop cuz my AAA plus was "expired" which it shouldnt be. Called up the rents, no one would answer all 3 phone numbers. Hour later dad called, renewed it over the phone. Luckily my gf's house was under 100M away, or they wouldve wanted 3.50 each extra mile. Screw that.
So my gf drove me back to ohio, and my fofo is stuck in chicago at her house.
One no good very bad day.

lildisco · Mar 12, 2007

Yup your Alternator is shot, mine did the same thing. They're around $100 to replace. I feel your pain. Luckily mine went out when i was about 10 minutes away from my house. I turned off all my lights and stereo and a/c and put my windows up and was able to limp her home. Then i went through the hole B.S. with my alternators. I went through 2 of them before i got one that lasted till this day. Then on the way to return the Alternator for my core charge, I passed this car and he decided to turn left w/o a signal and nearly caused my car to be totaled. But on the bright side, i can change out my alternator in under an hour....

americanrice · Mar 12, 2007

how hard is it to change it out?

Silas · Mar 12, 2007

doesn't look to hard to change on a foci...

Dcl2049 · Mar 12, 2007

^That's what I thought but mine was jammed in there. Had to loosen the motor mount and slide the engine forward to get it to come out of there. It was one of those all-day things taking it out, going to get a new one, and putting it back in with meals and breaks in between, just because it was caught in there so good. I don't know if it was angled wrong or what but tried spinning it just about every way possible, it would not come out until the engine was moved.

americanrice · Mar 12, 2007

great. That makes me scared to do it. lol

penguin · Mar 12, 2007

I suggest you buy a repair manual, either Chilton's or Haynes. For the $15-20 they cost, it is a wise investment.

scrammer · Mar 12, 2007

seriously, its really simple to move the motor a few inches. just completely unbolt the right-side engine mount and you can move the motor all around. of course this is all done with a jack and a 2x4 under the oil pan[thumb]

SVT_BMXer · Mar 12, 2007

americanrice said:
great. That makes me scared to do it. lol

Nah dude it's not. Not sure why people are moving the engine unless the SVT engine sits futher forward which I don't think cause they share the same motor mounts. Even with taking my supercharger off and re-installing it took me and my friend about 1.5 hours tops. Without the blower under an hour. Buy a Haynes manual and make sure you have all the right tools, you'll be fine. Good luck, sorry to hear about it. When my alternator went out last month, AAA had me stranded for 5 hours on the side of the road cause they are a bunch of douche bags.

americanrice · Mar 12, 2007

do you remember how hard it was to get in there with the tools and all? And was it hard to remove the belt?

hotdealz25 · Mar 12, 2007

damn dude dat sux i really feel your pain!

dirtbrown · Mar 12, 2007

First On Race Day

Dcl2049 · Mar 12, 2007

scrammer said:
of course this is all done with a jack and a 2x4 under the oil pan[thumb]

That would have been nice to have at the time. All I had was elbow grease. [wrenchin]

The belt was a little hard for me but it will help a lot if you've got 2 people on the job.

americanrice · Mar 18, 2007

ok i put the new alternator in, but my battery is still dead from running it down from right after the alternator went kaput.
I jumped the car, but it wont stay on or hold charge! Does this mean the new alternator is bad? or maybe I shorted the battery when I ran it down? If I charge the battery would it make a difference on the alternator giving charge?
Oh and one more question, How do I test to see if the alternator is working? Cuz i dont wanna just pull the battery terminal off when the car is running, unless thats how you do it lol.

Fixed Or Repaired Daily. Fofo died

americanrice

lildisco

americanrice

Silas

Dcl2049

americanrice

penguin

scrammer

SVT_BMXer

americanrice

hotdealz25

dirtbrown

Dcl2049

americanrice

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities