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*Potential* alternator / belt / crank pulley / battery terminal issues (dead batt)

JS2004

By JS2004
in mkiv Technical

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JS2004 Rookie

JS2004

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Posted (edited)

Well tonight was an interesting night.

 

Supposed to pick up the gf from train station, train was delayed so I ended up having to sit for 40 minutes. Car was on idle, had the heater on. Train arrived so I turned engine off got luggage in the boot / back seats, went to start car and it looked at me, clicked and said "no".

 

2 hours later help arrived with multimeter and set of leads.

 

Appears alternator is on its way out. When on idle with *nothing* on its 12.5.

 

So its working (kinda) but is somewhat lazy.

 

Are these things difficult to fix?

 

Ive been recommended a garage to buy either a new or reconditioned one from but I dont really fancy trying to install it myself because of the belts and such- would anyone know what the rough ballpark figure is for fitting a new alternator?

 

Also ballpark figure of the reconditioned or new one itself?

 

To top it off I was only in a tshirt as it was supposed to be a arrive, pick her up, get home type of thing and would have been fine had I not had to sit around waiting for so long !

Edited by JS2004
To clarify and not cause an issue. see explanation (sorry!) (see edit history)
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JS2004 Rookie

JS2004

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Do you mean is it an aftermarket one?

 

It looks like the original from what ive seen of other N/A supra engine bays. I think its just worn out because at 1200 revs the voltage on the multimeter was slowly dropping from around 12.7 to 12.3. and falling. bad times :(

Edited by JS2004
No longer valid (see edit history)
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Kaan W Contributor

Kaan W

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Posted
Will have a look :)

 

Would it be better to get mine refurbished though ? I'm sure I've read a few posts about people doing that. Would hate to put a replacement to have the same problem.

 

I would just get a new one mate or a good second hand one see them all the time in th for sale section. If you know someone that can refurb it cheaper than getting a second hand one then by all means do that.

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Havard Newbie

Havard

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Posted

Shit, no popcorn. I am just going to nip up to the local Spar and get some.

 

Why TF would you do that?

 

If memory serves this is a female member and a spiteful cow by the looks of it. The information gathered here is the lifeline for many members to keep their Supra on the road, well done.

 

Give yourself a big orange..!!

 

H.

 

EDIT: Not a female member as they were picking up a GF apparently. If a female member, can I watch?

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mawby Grand Master

mawby

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Posted
Well good luck anyone having the same problem and searching tech to see what the answer was! Why expend the effort to go back and remove everything just so no-one can benefit from the experience in the future?! :blink:

 

I agree, so by the power of Grayskull, I'll rewrite history and put it back as it was.

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Havard Newbie

Havard

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I agree, so by the power of Grayskull, I'll rewrite history and put it back as it was.

 

Can you do that Lee? Is this like in Superman 1 where he flies backwards to change the rotation of the earth and everything rewinds?

 

Can you also ban the OP for being a spiteful arse?

 

H.

Edited by Havard
typo (see edit history)
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JS2004 Rookie

JS2004

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Woah guys - I seem to have incidted totally the wrong response.

 

I edited this because I have a feeling that the problem was misdiagnosed.

 

This morning the car started fine but then felt very lumpy almost as if it was misfiring so I parked back up and got the multimeter out again.

 

I have different symptoms this morning. The voltage on the battery was above 12.5 but continues to drop.

 

There is a slight squeeling noise.

 

Also when putting the multimeter contacts on the bare wire before the battery terminal I get a higher reading than from the battery itself.

 

I have discussed with a mechanic this morning and we are going to start with the cheapest and simplest things first. Tonight I am going to clean up the terminals of the battery when I get home and re-check voltages because it may be that.

 

If that fails we are going to look at replacing the belt.

 

If that fails then we are going to look at the alternator.

 

Like I said - apologies for ruffling feathers and also Havard I am not sure what Ive done to gain your anger directed other than perhaps a misguided edit of my post to avoid mis information, however causing an issue was not my intention (and certainly not something that you could seriously request I am kicked from the forums for? that seems a bit excessive?). I feel that I jumped the gun last night and assumed the worst.

 

It might still be the alternator but I am going to check the other, cheaper options first.

 

I am at work so limited access to the forums I had planned on sorting it out tonight when I get home. I am very very thankful for these forums and where possible I do try to give positive input however I am by no means an expert and I dont want to have incorrect information on here.

 

So my apologies again - once I know for sure (and fix it properly) I will update this so others can learn from what happened :)

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Chris Wilson Mentor

Chris Wilson

Posted
Posted
Have you checked the crank pulley? If the belt is a worry, I'd look at the pulley too. The belt may not appear to be slipping, but if the pulley is fubard, that can cause the same symptoms of a slipping belt.

 

Yes, had this with a member's car, diagnosed by phone. he went through two alternators and some earth fiddling before I realised what was happening. Search the forum for Tipex or Tippex test.

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JS2004 Rookie

JS2004

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Thank you - its another one to add to the list of checks.

 

Ive only been able to speak to a mechanic over the phone so far but we hadnt even thought of the crank pulley.

 

My plan is get home tonight, have a go with the battery terminals (last time I changed one over I did notice there was white buildup on the negative terminal and tried to clean this) and get the multi meter back on it. Im not expecting that to give me much joy but having a slightly different voltage on the bare wire in comparison to the battery terminal doesnt sound great so it needs cleaning anyways.

 

Ill go off and find this tipex test - I have read about that in the past but cant remember the details.

 

I have not managed to get it into a garage yet as due to it dying this morning I ended up late for work.

 

I just figured its better to work along the list of easier / cheaper things to fix first rather than jumping the gun and ripping out the alternator only to have the issue resurface if it is not the root cause of the problem.

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Havard Newbie

Havard

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Posted

Like I said - apologies for ruffling feathers and also Havard I am not sure what Ive done to gain your anger directed other than perhaps a misguided edit of my post to avoid mis information, however causing an issue was not my intention (and certainly not something that you could seriously request I am kicked from the forums for? that seems a bit excessive?). I feel that I jumped the gun last night and assumed the worst.

 

 

I am now very confused and if I have jumped the gun then I apologise. Your amended thread title this morning did sound as if you were deliberately witholding information that could help another member. I couldn't get my head around that and subsequently ranted.

 

If you are now saying that a mis-diagnosis would lead other members to make the same mistake then I suppose that is commendable. Why not just update the thread with your findings.

 

H.

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JS2004 Rookie

JS2004

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I am now very confused and if I have jumped the gun then I apologise. Your amended thread title this morning did sound as if you were deliberately witholding information that could help another member. I couldn't get my head around that and subsequently ranted.

 

If you are now saying that a mis-diagnosis would lead other members to make the same mistake then I suppose that is commendable. Why not just update the thread with your findings.

 

H.

 

Hi Havard,

 

The amended thread title was done by a moderator. I had changed the title to simple "." as my original diagnosis following this mornings tests was potentially inaccurate. I did want to put up a full post but generally I wait for my lunch hour before I access forums as its frowned upon to do during work time. To clarify, the title suggesting I was witholding information was not a title I put on, it was done by what I can only assume was a moderator (I can only assume as I dont think non mods can edit titles).

 

I can totally see why this amended title received the responses that followed. From the comments it seems there was a spate of bad threads recently and mine probably got tied in with those despite my intention of editing it so that the mis-diagnosis (potentially) was not displaying still. I had changed the posts and the reason of "fixed" that I entered was (in retrospect) misleading as the problem isnt fixed its just that I dont think its 100% the alternator yet. I have no hard feelings over this as I view it as a misunderstanding.

 

As mentioned however I will be posting my findings once I get to the bottom of it. Ill be under the bonnet as soon as I get home with a torch (and a jacket this time!) to try and see whats going on.

 

Battery terminals will be cleaned up and I will grab some tipex on the way home and get the tipex test done.

 

Reading up on this I need to put load on - so locking wheels and flicking heaters on etc should do that (provided it starts). Ill stick it in park and rev it up to around 1600 so it doesnt die and the batter does charge for a good 5 minutes or so then check where the tipex line is. If this has moved then its crank pulley and / or belt. If not, then ill move onto the alternator.

 

- Chris, regarding the power steering I only ever notice something 'strange' when I have full lock on the power steering it makes a slight whirring sound, its hard to explain but it is similar to the sound of escaping gas from a coke bottle, but continually.. if that makes sense.

 

I appreciate the feedback and advice =)

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