"94-Mark Hate" gobbled up another Alternator

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PIMPLINC

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Well...this is my COUNT IT 4th Alternator to go...they seem to be holding steady @ 8 Months(always on a Sunday too:shifty: ) then crap out! It is always the same symptom...car will all of a sudden develop a miss at WOT then try to nurse it home and there is my favorite light the ABS blinks on and off then the Message Center dims, and then the climate control display craps out....now it seems like it is running on 4 cylinders....Limp it to my garage throw a volt meter on it.... 1.3VDC.......ho-humm.......Now I have tried all these diffrent alts & none seem to last....I have tried brand New Motorcraft or whatever @ close to $800.00 Form the Stealership, Tried a brand new Bosh (Junk right outta the box) , then a POS champion re-man from partsource, and a re-man NO-NAME NAPA one.......so now I am going to return the current Partsource one, and NOW I is Gonna try my luck with GENO's OEM 130Amp.......
I knew I should have left the Fiero Parked....every time I get one of the other cars out my Mark must get Jealous or vice versa.....

I have checked for Shorts, Exccesive amp draws which by the by seems to be 90AMPS at idle.......I don't think there is a problem with the marks electrical, but this is getting bloody expensive Every time I am changing the Alternator I am also installing a brand new Optima Red top too so now I have quite the collection going:D
Well thanks for letting me VENT
 
1.3 VDC nothing would run. period. the PCM shuts down around 8-9 volts.

90 amps at idle...explains why youre killing alternators. motorcraft are not near 800 bucks. i paid about 240 for mine.
 
Nothing thats the scary part, I unhooked my 4ga amp cable.....still sits @ 90AMPS....nothing other thatn the daytime running lights....gay Canadian thing.....the car is just purring away.....with the motorcraft one it was sitting at 66 Amps @ Idle, but revved to 3000 it holds at 109....I dunno something is not right & I know it is not my Fluke meter, it's on DC amps...

FOR VR4
alternator puts out 1.3 with the cable unhooked....just running off of batt....
Yeah $852.73 From MGM Ford Lincoln in Red Deer here & like 2 weeks to get it from Michigan??? Trust me I tore a strip off of those parts guys...
my Re-Man from partsource was $328.00 For a FKN reman now that is gouging!!!Stupid Oil Economy I live in

errm.....Auto Lamp & day time running lights....thats the only major draw I know of......
 
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Like Vr said...I do not think there is an alternator in ford inventory that MSRP is 800.00...unless they ripped you for 4 hours labor too!!.
The P/N for that alt is F3LY-10346-ARM and lists for 424.97 plus the 75.00 core...LVC is $318.73 plus the 75.00 core. Nobody puts a gen 1 alt on a gen 1...they all use the gen2 which has more amps and is a p/n F6LY-10346-ARM listing for $209.07 plus the 60.00 core costing LVC $156.80 plus the 60.00 core. frt would be about 12.00 each way.
Max
 
how do you know the Amp draw do you have a DC amperage clamp?

Im drawing 34 Amps at idle and when the compressor comes on it jumps to 194 amps.

if you are drawing 90 amps forget about wasting your money on a red top.

you need a blue top if you want to be cheap. but with that draw you need a Deep cycle battery.

I promise it will be a waste to get a red top. look into either a kinetics or an oddessy battery.

I have the largest Oddessy you can buy in my trunk and it puts out 10x what a red top can even dream of putting out. amper/hr wise.
 
Yea I am using a Fluke clamp meter set to DC amps
Just to clarify, most of the Alternators are putting out 90 AMPS with no cables attached!!! Just running free it is supplying 90 amps <WTF I have no Idea why>
Thus is why I am saying all these alts I am using are Junk right from the start....So when I get my replacement tomorrow I will run it up on my power bench and see what it is putting out.....
I have a Aux powermaster SPL alt in my Flareside along with a normal alt, but the SPL puts out it's max at around 300A @ 2100RPM. Idle it sits at 140Amps .....
 
Roadboss said:
I'd start pulling fuses to see what circuit is causing all this draw.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I know high 20s, low 30s is the normal amperage load at idle with all accessories off.

The cooling fan is known to be a common source for overcurrent symptoms.

Ditto on the Odyssey line of batteries. Best money I ever spent on any battery. My PC1200LMJT is almost 4 years old and has lived a rough life, lol. Not bad for $160. It could die tomorrow and it will have been a good one.
 
Okey..... so I went to my good friends shop & pulled the Alt off his mark(hehe at least mine runs on all 8) and threw it in guess what 94 Amps no Load....ok..hook it up 102amps..:q:q:q:q....no accessories running so I unplug the daytime running lights & horn fuse the amperage drops to 86....hmm....unhook the main cable run my amp test again 94 Amps....

Bench test teh alt jumping the regulator now it is reading @ 1000RPM 96 Amps????

Now tell me this why does an alternator put out 80+ AMPS of Current when there is nothing on the bolt terminal that creates a load???? <no way in heck could my meter draw that kind of amperage>
BTW This was a factory alt from 95....I am so Confused:confused:

Tomorrow I am taking the mess in to get read by a blue-streak power bench & find out WTF is going on.....Ho-Hummm hope my bench did not bite the dust
 
My brand new wally world battery did the same thing to the alternator on my 94 and burned it out in short order, 90 amps at idle. A switch to a better brand of battery and a 130 amp unit cured it.
 
This might answer my questions.. all of the sudden.. I developed a hesitation when I romp on it.. but when I cruise.. its just fine.. then I notice my interior lights.. Gauges and what not.. will be dim.. then just be bright.. all of the sudden.. I'll start my car.. drive about a mile from my girls house... with them dim.. then BAM.. thier bright.. well bright as they should be... Yesterday.. my ABS light came on though.. in the middle of stop and go traffic.... but my front break is squealing... could this be my problem... do you have the problems I described... I though it was because I took my mufflers off.. but maybe it is a coincidence(sp?).. but then agian.. i'm smelling rotten eggs too... maybe bad cats.. and bad alt.. I just need to know if your alt symptoms are the same as what I'm having.
 
Cool PIMPLINC is back on track.....Just got my warranty re-man today...spun it up and was putting out 18Amps at idle....Unhooked Day time running lights, and down to 8 Amps...So it must have been 3 bad alternators!!! So this POS re-man is just going to stay in the car till my NEW Five Star Ford one comes in :)
So for now I am going to spend the money on all the parts it "wants", I have the LMS chip coming, New Walbro pump coming from jd's, regulator on backorder, Nology Wires & Coils, prolly going to go with Geno's Mass kit too along with the crossovers & Muffs

One other question What would be the MOST CLEANEST looking 4 gauge set VOLTS, OIL, WATERTEMP, TRANSTEMP but where in the interior looks nice???....I don't want to butcher the dash etc....for Gauges I will go with the Autometer C2's (2-1/16") again have 5 in the fiero & love them!!

Black on Black 94 Mark
 
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