When it rains, shit falls off.
The wife’s escape, which got a new alternator two years ago, wants another new alternator. So that’s what I’m going to go do now.
The book says to pull the passengers side axle to get this out. Last time I let someone else do it, this time not so much. Bugger.
13 comments Og | Uncategorized
Yep, the new cars are laid out by some kind of contortionist. I would bet the shops have a short cut as they can charge more for the repair then.
You have to take out the axle to GET to the alternator, then you have to take the alternator off the bracket, and then it’s like one of those bar puzzles to get the alternator out the hole where the axle came out of. Now I have to put it back together.
YGTBSM… sigh… NOT like the old days when a car could actually be worked on…
It’s in and functional, 8 hours later. And I saved $200, which I just don’t have this payday, so there’s that. But damn, what a day.
The last car I worked on was my 1991 Isuzu pick up. Man that’s crazy.
I drove an escape for work and it died on the interstate with no warning. Alternator gave up and the bulb in the dash had been out without my noticing. My friend who is parts/service manager in a Ford dealership told me when I asked if I could do it beside the road “yes if you have a day and access to a lift”. I paid to have it hauled back to the dealer. About $600 best I remember.
Hope you never have to change the starter on a Nissan Titan, or Armada (the SUV version thereof).
Damn thing is inside the transmission bell-housing.
Who the smokin’ hell thought that was a good idea?
Oh, and Honda had it’s own guilt in every four-cylinder Gold Wing ever made. Alternator was of the “oil-bath” variety, buried inside the engine cases.
Worst year was the 1984, the first of the 1200cc ‘Wings. Failure rate so overwhelming, the entire run was recalled just for that problem.
Wasn’t till the advent of the six-cylinder ‘Wing (1988), that they finally went to an external, air-cooled and easily changeable unit.
Engineering is a precise science, but not always a perfect one.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Only two years between failures?
Seems like they should last longer, as few miles as she drives.
I think it’s the conditions. SHe parks in a dusty limestone parking lot, and this one was just fine until a radiator hose burst, which also may have contributed to the issue
Og, I too have an escape. Same issues for me. 2 years after the first one I had to do it again. Had mine done by the dealer both times. The first time i had it die completely i pushed it on level ground for 1\2 mile to the dealership. My dad was following but passed me…. i still gov him $4! T for it. And its been about 5 years. Anyway I was lucky and some kids in a pickup saw me pushing and even though they had a girl in the car with them left her in the truck and got out and helped me do about 1\4 mile of the 1\2 mile. I only had a 20 and the one kid wouldn’t take it. The other said he’d take the girl out to eat with it to make up for leaving her in the truck. Must admit best 20 I ever spent.
I just traded my nice ol’ extended cab ’92 F150 with a 351 CID V8 in it for a nicer ol’ extended cab ’89 F250 powered by a 300 CID straight 6, otherwise nearly identical, at least in appearance. Looking into that roomy, accessable engine bay makes shivers run up and down my spine. I can damn near stand up alongside the engine, and I can see every tiddly bit I’ll likely ever have need to touch, and it is out in the open. Gotta love it.
To all intents and purposes it seems to have every bit the power my much loved F150 had into the bargain. Next friday I’ll know how it performed over the week burning Zero-E gasoline.
One other lil’ bonus, in WA State the ’89 no longer has to be emission tested. Another .gov pia gotten done with.
Gerry N.
Og,
Are you using rebuilds? After my original alternator went (it was over 15 years old) I went thru three more in the next five years, each just got over the one-year warranty before it crapped the bed. It was a common problem around here with any rebuilt electrical item.
I usually have better luck with remans. The first replacement was a bloody expensive new motocraft, 1 yr warranty. This one is lifetime reman.
They’re placed close to a cat which I feel makes the diodes fail.