Should I replace my alternator now ? (insurance, 2012, truck, buy)
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I drive a 2012 Ford Fusion with over 200,000 miles on it. As far as I know the alternator is original. Friday I had to drive about 400 miles. During that trip the battery light came on for about five minutes then turned off. I took the car to a mechanic that told me the alternator was changing properly at the time, but it "looked bad" and he guessed that it did not have much time left. I have used this shop for several jobs over the last few years and they have seemed honest. I also have to drive long distances often and would hate for it to go out 200 miles away from home, but then I hate to spend $300 if it was just a one time glitch.
Before you jump off that bridge, do yourself a big favor.
1] How old is the battery and are the cells full
**** Battery cables and or battery side terminal ends. SUPER CLEAN, or replace
Before you jump off that bridge, do yourself a big favor.
1] How old is the battery and are the cells full
**** Battery cables and or battery side terminal ends. SUPER CLEAN, or replace
The battery is maintenance free, and was replaced in July.The cables were cleaned and there is no sign of corrosion.
I was picking up some family from the airport one day and while I was waiting my battery light flickered on then off. I had never seen that before. On the way home it flickered a few more times then came on steady and the truck started to die. I turned off as much as I could, radio, lights, wipers and told my wife to find a garage quick. The windows stopped working as we pulled off the highway and we made it to a garage about a mile away. I didn't shut it off knowing it would never restart and went inside told the mechanic what was happening and he was just finishing up the car he was working on, pulled that out, I drove in on the last few volts the battery had left popped the hood and he put a meter on which confirmed my thoughts, the alternator had died.
A new one was ordered, installed and the truck emerged from the garage in under 40 minutes.
Not bad and we were on our way.
My alternator crapped out fast so don't risk getting stuck because then you will need an expensive tow.
Have yours looked at ASAP and replaced if necessary. My truck is a 2002 with 84,000 miles on it. $300 is cheap insurance for you.
If the battery light was on, I would say that it is highly likely that the alternator was not charging properly for the period of time . From what I recall, for the light to come on, there must be a lower current coming from the alternator than the battery. I don't know how the shop could possibly tell that the alternator was charging properly for the period of 5 minutes. You could run off the battery for a while.
Might stop at a battery shop and get a second opinion. Tell them what happened and see if they detect anything unusual about the alternator, the output, etc I would measure the alternator output and after driving it a spell, put my hand on the alternator to see if it is hotter than it should be. With that many miles on it, you probably have gotten your use out of it and are on borrowed time.
Your description of your alternator is typical when the newer Ford alternators die. They work but they get get hot and then they don't work. It'll do that over a few drive cycles and finally crap out. If you replace it, use ONLY a new, NOT rebuilt unit. Ford alternators have a final diode inside that can be an issue. NO rebuilder replaces this diode. The unit will charge but then with the key off, the alternator will have an open ground thru it and suck the life out of the battery. Driven everyday, the battery will seem weak. Leave it a couple of days and the battery will not start the engine. That's when you know the alternator has an open ground and is no good. But tested, it will show good as the alternator will still have output but in fact, faulty.
Check all of your charging-circuit connectors....should be clean and tight. Check the tension on your alternator belt, it should be nice and snug.
You can do a very basic load-test on you alternator. Turn on everything electrical in your car, put a voltmeter on your battery....the charging-voltage should not fall below about 13-volts. Keep that load on there for a while, watch for dropouts in voltage, it should remain quite steady.
Usually alternators will just crap out. You might get a warning light again or not. Something like this I would just replace it. Unless it's in a weird spot it should be a relatively easy repair. I agree with get new. I had a few rebuilt and they didn't last worth a crap. I just buy new for the peace of mind. Replacing one is a 15 minute process if it's accessible.
Of course, with 200,000 miles on original alternator, just wait for a cold rainy Sunday night far away from home for alternator to fail. Sounds good to me.
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