So after just 4 months being in my car my alternator siezed up. (the belt wheel wouldn't turn). I couldn't find the reciept or even remember where i brought it so i just got a new one. I put in the new one today and when everythine was done i went to start the car, and it started just fine. But my power windows wouldn't work. Neither would my mirrors, A/C fans, or windshield whipers. Yet everything else worked fine. The car ran, the lights worked both interior and exterior so i'm like WTF. So i go for a quick ride and as soon as i hit above 3k or so rpms, everything comes on, i can now move my windows and mirrors and such... but at the same time the lights for my brake and my battery come on in the console, which means that the alternator is NOT charging... Now these lights weren't on before i hit 3k when everything wasn't working. So i get it home and i turn it off and on and the same thing happens... No power windows .... but when i rev it up to 3k everything pops back on including those lights for battery and brake in the console. So I break out my voltmeter and i go to measuring. The battery reads 12.20 volts, with the car on and about 12.5 with it off. Which means that the alternator seems to not be charging it correctly. BUT i measure the power from the alternator to the negative battery terminal and i got 15+ volts... Which means the alter. is charging.... So WTF is going on? Am i missing something here. WTF could this be....? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

start with the simple stuff---are all of the connections CLEAN & TIGHT..battery & alt...especially the grounds, is the belt tight?

 

Are you sure you were getting 15+ volts? That's pretty high. By the way, the battery + brake lights don't mean the alty is NOT charging, it means it's charging at 12.5 volts or below.

 

So the trouble continues. I put in a totally new alternator today (took it to autozone and the guy checked it and said it was bad). In hindsight i believe he was wrong because even with the brand new alternator i'm still having the same problem with the horn, tail lights, power windows and power locks not working. Althought i can't tell for 100% sure till the morning because amist all the madness my belt popped off and i have to get a new one on the morning before i can truly test anything, but even after starting it up with the new alt connected (not fully cause the drive belts gone) the car started but the door locks, and windows and such still will not move.

 

check the fuseable link its 120 volt. You should also get your money back b/c he basically recycled your old alternator. The fuseable link is like $5.00 from autozone.

 

^^^yes, the alt fuse usually blows when going from a dead alt to a "fresh" one giving the impression that your new alt isn't working.

 

WARNING.... Don't EVER by Autozone Alternators.
I had a new one shipped into a nearby store. All wrapped up and painted. I asked to have it tested before I paid....FAILED.
Autozone called another store who said they had one. I told him I would drive out to pick it up once it was tested......
After waiting 20 minutes this is what I was told. "We have 2 alternators that are rebuilt but when we tested them BOTH failed...sorry "

Bottom line they are JUNK!

 

I think I may have had a similar problem -- Just to clarify, did you get a difference of more than .02-.03V between the alternator and positive battery terminal? If so I think you may be in the same boat I was.

Before I bought the car, the previous owner had been in two front-end accidents, and (I think) damaged the bundle of cables under the front cross-member and above the A/C radiator. It killed the original alternator, and the one I replaced it with had a bad bearing (Stupid Autozone alternator), so I swapped the alternator with a replacement under warranty.
Immediately after replacing the alternator, I tested everything I could with my multimeter, and found 4V between the alternator and battery terminal. I took the car back to Autozone to get the whole system checked, and the alternator and battery failed. I left the battery to attempt to charge overnight and took everything back with a new alternator (#3!), battery, starter (it had been giving me problems), 42" 2 guage grounding cable, 16" 2guage grounding cable, and a few packages of sandpaper. I even managed to talk the manager at Autozone into a 10% discount on everything for all the trouble.
I cleared up a long weekend to do the work and pulled the intake up to the manifold, the radiator fan, and dropped the a/c compressor, then replaced the knock sensor (another project), cleaned the manifold, butterfly valve and IACV while I had everything out, and ran the plastic intake parts through the dishwasher on the first day. For the second day, I found every grounding point I could and sanded them down, including the negative terminal on the battery, the grounding points for the knock sensor, headlights and foglights and coil packs/injectors. I replaced the alternator, starter and battery, and set up the two grounding cables. One goes from a bolt near the alternator to the body to ground the engine and alternator, the other goes from the positive terminal on the alternator to the positive alternator on the battery. If you run it up along one of the radiator fan supports and under the intake it just barely fits. On day three I reassembled everything and spent like two hours testing all of my voltages, checking for codes, trying everything at high RPMs and low RPMs, went to two different Autozones to have them test everything, and the only problem I've had since is an 0402, something emissions-related I'm too lazy to fix..
Since then, after six months and almost 9000 miles, the only other work I've done has been a few oil changes, a radiator fluid swap this afternoon, and installing a 150A fuse inline on the grounding wire-turned battery cable, and removing the old 120A fuse to keep everything safe.

If this isn't the case, feel free to ignore this post.

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

Agreed. Between replacing alternators that tested fine and I've installed and alternators that failed out of the box, I've seen at least ten go through my local store and back to be remanufactured again. The only reason I haven't replaced the one I have now with a quality replacement is the lifetime warranty and the fact that I can't get a refund until my fifth replacement, according to the manager.

 

i have a stupid question....where is the 120amp fuse i am supposed to be replacing. i asked at autozone and they had no idea what i mean... i didnt have the car with me cause its not running....

 

The fusable link is next to your fuses in the engine bay on the drivers side. You have to remove the black cover. Its the biggest fuse in the car. In order for you to take it out you need to unscrew two screws. One on each side. This is a PIA b/c you need to move the plastic and its really hard to do with out breaking it.

The guys at autozone usually don't know jack. Go to where the fuses are in the store. Start looking for fusable link 120 A.

This is how it looks.

http://www.amazon.com/Beck-Arnley-17...8006031&sr=1-1

 

Charging at 12.5 or below..... is not charging.

 

I just posted information earlie not to trust the folks at Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts. If they tell you something is bad, back it up by testing it yourself or some one that you can trust. I check my alternator by putting the VOM across the neg. and pos. terminals of the battery and then have some one reeve the engine up a few RPM's while watching the VOM. It should be some where in the vincinity of 14.5 volts give or take a few tenth volts.

 

I'm gonna resurrect this thread so that I don't have to start a new one. I am at work now and will try to do the things suggested to fix the problems with my windows/power-locks/FOB not working.

Funny thing is, I started my car last night after I swapped out the alternator. I saw that the valve cover had some serious gunk on it from the oil leak over the years(that's my next little project, valve cover gasket). So I sprayed the area down with some simple green and let it drain and dry overnight. I came out this morning, fired her up just fine but noticed the windows and power locks weren't working. I shut it down and played with the switched for a few minutes then tried to start it up again. Nothing. No crank. I had my wife turn the key after I quickly played with a couple of the leeds to see if that was the problem. I only hear a very soft hum(like a computer hard drive searching) when she turns the key.

I had replaced the starter with one I pulled out of the junkyard, I hope that one didn't die on me.

 

When you turn the key to the ON position you hear the little hum but what happens when you actually try to start it? If its totally dead when you try to start it you can have a bad starter or ignition switch. When the key is in the ON position and you hear that hum cut the headlights on. Are they really dim? If so you may not have tensioned (tightened) up the alternator/AC belt enough which in turn means the battery wasn't getting charged and you don't have enough juice to start the car or run any accessories. These are a couple of starting points for you let us know what happens.

 

The belt is plenty tight. There is plenty of juice in the battery, it's new and I had it on the trickle charger. The car wasn't running long enough to drain the battery(2 min) so I am going to guess that it is fuses or fusible link or connections. The hum happens when the attempting to start the car(that sound could be the fuel priming so it may not be important.) But, I don't hear the clicking of a starter.

I was actually trying to see if people with the same symptoms of the windows and locks not working had the same problem of it not starting.

 

Thread Jack!

Fusible link fixed the windows, FOB etc...

Started up, I think there is an exposed wire or moisture causing the short somewhere. But it is fixed for now. Once I finish cleaning everything and change the valve cover gasket i may be able to find it.

Should I change all the grommets or just the main gasket when I do this? It's $13 for the main gasket and $52 for the main and all the little grommets and other gaskets.

 

Hell if you are going to take the time to take it off why not replace all the associated gaskets while you are in there.

 

Maybe so, but if the smaller grommet gaskets rarely leak, I'd skip replacing those and save myself $40.