hi guys,


Last week i was on the way to work and my car died, i pulled over saw that the battery (idiot lights) light was on steady and the car was completely dead, after work i had to jump it 3 times just to get home it seemed to be running off of the battery, when i got home i replaced the battery just to see if it was that for some reason and to no avail, the battery light stays on all the time now and the car is off the road but i need it to get to work! i just want to make sure that this is an alternator problem before i fork out the cash and find out i just wasted my money! the alternator makes no wierd noises and actually looks relatively new but i guess you never know with alts.. anyone have any opinions your help is very appreciated thanks in advanced.

 

Definitely sounds like the alt but it's tough to diagnose over the keyboard.

If you can remove it, most parts stores can test it for free to be sure it's dead.

 

Damn, I just threw away a perfectly working V6 alternator because no one wanted it. Like literally 30 minutes ago. I guess you'll have to bench test it and see.

 

alright thanks guys ill take her off and bring it down to autozone, if all else fails i can find one on ebay too.. thanks again

 

i found an alternator on ebay will it work it says it fits 85-92 tpi camaros, but i figured it might work since its still gm heres the link thanks again guys..http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33573

 

That's a new idea, given that '85-87 mount on the passenger side and '88+ mount on the driver side...

 

err so i guess it wont work? lol. um it came from a 91 so i guess not, mines an 87' .. well theres another one on ebay at least and its from an 87' v6 too.. check it.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

 

Is this for a V6 or V8? They aren't interchangeable from what I've seen. V6 is about half the size of a V8.

 

They're the same size (and output), but the mounting pattern is reversed IIRC. In simplest terms, not interchangeable.

 

okkk t hanks ill just bid on the v6 one then.. thanks for the help guys

 

alright another snag i took the ALt down to autozone but when i removed the alternator the bottom bracket was cracked! maybe thats my problem? anyways i took it down to the guy and he said he cant test it becuase it wont fit on the machine, gr8! um what should i do now? the one on ebay that fits my car seems like a good choice considering they want 100 bucks for a remanufactured one.. any more advice guys?

 

bump someone helppp lol sorry guys im just in a bind here any advice is welcome!!

 

Have a shop weld up the crack in your bottom bracket, or hit the junkyard and find a replacement.

The bracket crack would only cause charging problems if your belt was loose as a result...was the belt loose when you removed it?

 

no the belt still had alot of tension i had to pull the tensioner loose to get it off still... another thing all these symptons seem to happen shortly after my serpentine belt decided to take a 1 way flight out of my car on the road.. about a month ago now this happened alittle more then a week ago.. idk do you think its really worth it for me to pay to get the bracket welded on just to test it? or should i just bite the bullet and spend $100 bucks on a new alt, i mean what else can it be? replaced battery cleaned terminals.. what you think? thank you for all the help again

 

bumpedy bump bumpp yeaaa im a bump whor*

 

I wouldn't weld it just to test it. With the symptoms you've described, it's almost certain (i'd say 95%) to be a bad alternator. Even if it does charge, the busted case is a good enough reason to replace it.

If you get an auto store reman, I wouldn't bring the old one in until after you have the new one in your car. Then you can put the old one back in the box with the cracked end down. Otherwise, if they notice the crack in the case, you might not get a core credit for it.

 

I'm assuming the bracket is an external piece, and he'll need it fixed regardless of the alt's condition.

If he's talking about a part of the alt casing, I agree forget it and get a replacement alt.

 

thx guys you made up my mind for me basically lol im gonna pick up the reman one today and do what he said and put the cracked piece down, it is a cracked piece on the ALT not externall, wish me luck!

 

that was itt!!! thanks alot for all the help i through in the new reman alternator and bingo problem solved now on to solve my hesitation

 

My 1989 2.8 alternator is about 5-8 pounds lighter than my 1986 5.0 alternator. The V8 one was massive.

 

the difference you notice wasn't because of V6-->V8.

It's because up until 86, the used the old SI series alts (big, heavy, and not impressive outpub), and from 87 on they used the CS130 series alts. If you compare v6 and v8 alts in an 87 or later car, you'll see they're the same alt with a different mount pattern.