Charging system dies, power steering goes, AND funny smell under hood?

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Ghaleon64

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On the way home from work tonight, I stop to get gas. Go to start her up and she randomly has trouble starting, lights go dim, get messages "Check charging system" AND "check traction control", lose lights completely 3 blocks from home, funny whining noise as if it had low power steering fluid appears, steering is noticeably stiffer and odd smell comes through vents. I get home, pop the hood, don't see any damage to the belt or anything and PS fluid is full. Did my car just take a colossal shit all at once in the 5 minutes between the gas station and home? :(
 
New Battery, New Alternator, New Tentioner, New Idler Pulley, New belt.

GLWR
 
Sounds like your alternator went tits up. Since you lost lights, it probably deep discharged the battery, so it's toast too.

LS is finnicky with voltages, so I would probably not bother chasing down the other gremlins until the electrical
is fixed first.
 
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Well that's just irritating. I replaced the battery like 2 months ago. :mad:
 
Ghaleon64 said:
Well that's just irritating. I replaced the battery like 2 months ago. :mad:
Click to expand...

You can have it tested to make sure. If it didn't go below 10V for long, it will be okay.
I had to replace the alternator in my 06 about a year ago (give or take). I went aftermarket, and so far so good. (Gen II seems to be okay with aftermarket alternators.)
 
FWIW, I first replaced the alternator on my '02 back in '07. Since the car was a DD and it was a Saturday afternoon, the only source available was Autozone. It's a good thing that it has a lifetime warranty because it's been necessary to replace it several times since. (The second one went out at the starting line in ECTA competition in North Carolina. We had to go into town and get another one at the local A-Z and put it in while laying in the dirt and using a flashlight to be able to see. I DID set four records in two classes the next day.)

The current one lasted for about 30K miles but it went out again very recently. I'm torn between getting another 'free' one under the warranty and taking the dead one to a local rebuilder for a more 'premium' re-work process. They always simply fail to charge. It's not a mechanical failure.

KS
 
The 1st gen uses an odd control scheme for the alternator where the PCM controls it. Apparently, the aftermarket never correctly copied the alternator control electronics for this.
The 2nd gen uses "normal" alternators that are not controlled by the PCM. They control themselves to get the correct regulated output voltage.
 
So just out of curiosity, after the alternator is replaced and happy again, any thoughts on the stiff steering issue? It was making that noise a car makes when it's low on fluid, but the reservoir is nice and full. It was most noticeable at low RPM's, if that means anything.
 
joegr said:
I had to replace the alternator in my 06 about a year ago (give or take). I went aftermarket, and so far so good. (Gen II seems to be okay with aftermarket alternators.)
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Sorry for the OT, but I thought that even the GenIIs were finicky about alts?
I played it safe and went Motorcraft when the one in my 06 went south about a year ago
(made a very nice supercharger whine on startup, and was causing various modules to throw voltage codes before that).
 
Ghaleon64 said:
So just out of curiosity, after the alternator is replaced and happy again, any thoughts on the stiff steering issue? It was making that noise a car makes when it's low on fluid, but the reservoir is nice and full. It was most noticeable at low RPM's, if that means anything.
Click to expand...


Really, you should do some diagnosis before throwing parts at it.

Start it up. Verify that the drive belt is moving (correctly) and that all the pulleys are turning.

Maybe you'll find that the alternator is seized and that is causing the belt to slip and not drive the power steering pump very well. Maybe you'll find that the belt has failed in some way that you didn't notice with it not running. Maybe the belt is just loose due to a failed tensioner. Don't just jump to conclusions, verify first. Fix the obvious problems first, before chasing the other symptoms.
In the worst case, maybe your damper pulley has failed.

You've had electrical system problems for a while, right?
Status check yesterday says charging system is fine...

Also, did you resolve the coolant leak? Did (or does it still) coolant get on the belt?
 
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WhoBeDaPlaya said:
Sorry for the OT, but I thought that even the GenIIs were finicky about alts?
I played it safe and went Motorcraft when the one in my 06 went south about a year ago
(made a very nice supercharger whine on startup, and was causing various modules to throw voltage codes before that).
Click to expand...

No, they're not. However, OEM is still the best choice. I would have paid the extra for Motorcraft, if I could have gotten it the night that I needed it. It's a major pain to change out the alternator on this car, and I don't want to have to do it more than twice (two LSes to keep going).
 
What brand of aftermarket alternator did you buy joegr?

joegr said:
You can have it tested to make sure. If it didn't go below 10V for long, it will be okay.
I had to replace the alternator in my 06 about a year ago (give or take). I went aftermarket, and so far so good. (Gen II seems to be okay with aftermarket alternators.)
Click to expand...
 
joegr said:
Really, you should do some diagnosis before throwing parts at it.

Start it up. Verify that the drive belt is moving (correctly) and that all the pulleys are turning.

Maybe you'll find that the alternator is seized and that is causing the belt to slip and not drive the power steering pump very well. Maybe you'll find that the belt has failed in some way that you didn't notice with it not running. Maybe the belt is just loose due to a failed tensioner. Don't just jump to conclusions, verify first. Fix the obvious problems first, before chasing the other symptoms.
In the worst case, maybe your damper pulley has failed.

You've had electrical system problems for a while, right?
Status check yesterday says charging system is fine...

Also, did you resolve the coolant leak? Did (or does it still) coolant get on the belt?
Click to expand...

Joegr, the battery died a few weeks ago, replaced it and everything seemed fine since then. The cooling system had the typical high mileage overhaul, basically replaced the entire system. That was back in about November. So a lot has been going wrong in a relatively short time. Rather frustrating. And costly. When I can get the battery charged enough to start/run the car, I'll check the belt/pulleys.
 
joegr said:
You can have it tested to make sure. If it didn't go below 10V for long, it will be okay.
I had to replace the alternator in my 06 about a year ago (give or take). I went aftermarket, and so far so good. (Gen II seems to be okay with aftermarket alternators.)
Click to expand...

Hi Joegr, you mentioned having to replace your alternator in your 06.

Do you mind sharing how many miles were on the ODO when you replaced it?

What about water pump?
 
Water pumps on these LS'es are very solid, they do not often fail if at all.
 
Uberck said:
Hi Joegr, you mentioned having to replace your alternator in your 06.

Do you mind sharing how many miles were on the ODO when you replaced it?

What about water pump?
Click to expand...

I really don't remember. It was over a 100K miles. Note that my 04 is over 180K miles and still on the original factory alternator. I haven't replaced the water pump.
 
joegr said:
I really don't remember. It was over a 100K miles. Note that my 04 is over 180K miles and still on the original factory alternator. I haven't replaced the water pump.
Click to expand...
+1 on the water pump. If only the DCCV was as solid (on the 2nd Motorcraft replacement now)!
Alternator on my 06 went out at ~70K, 10 years. Not powering anything crazy either, just the factory THX amps and an Infinity Kappa Four.
 
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the OG alt in my 03 with 165k miles has been going strong and getting its ass kicked powering big amps ever since 65k
 
That's pretty impressive.

Gives me a lot of confidence in the OEM alternator in mine.

108xxx and still seems to be ok.

What about OEM suspension?

I live in MA and the roads here are terrible, I mean terrible.

Lots of potholes and bumpy roads put a lot of extra wear on the car's suspension.

Any recommendation for when or if to replace struts/springs, LCA's etc. basically anything suspension related given the conditions?
 
with the age and miles, you can pretty much bet that it is ready for an entire suspension overhaul. for sure, if it has a rubber bushing or boot, its probably dry rotted by now and ready for replacement. most of my suspension was well over due and HAD to be replaced between 115k-130K miles. the only thing that I have not replaced is any of the bushings or ball joints in the control arms.
 
So are we talking struts and springs all around?

Can you be a bit more specific, is there anything else?

What if I go the coilover route?
 
shocks, sway bar bushings, sway bar end links (front and rear), front tie rods (outer and maybe inner), rear adjustable links.

then I'd take a look at the UCAs and LCAs and see what condition they are in.

if you go to aftermarket coilovers. then you wont need to replace the front coilover Shocks, as the new kit comes with shocks of its own.
 
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