Alternator Problems

[RoB51988]

My alternator is starting to die. I was driving home from dinner the other night and all of a sudden my heat turned off, then my radio then my dash lights were almost completely out. I was almost home so I didnt want to call AAA and wait 50-130 mins for a tow so I decided to drive it all the way home. After about 5 mins of driving pretty much a dead car everything randomly powered back up.

Is it bad to be driving the car like this? I was fine until last night until it started to shut everything down again when I was half way home from work. I live about 10 minutes away from both jobs and as soon as I got on my street everything came back on. I plan on replacing the alternator but I dont have time until Wednesday and I really need the car to get back and forth from both jobs. Should I wait and replace it before I drive or will it be fine until Wednesday?

[shorod]

Have you done the first steps such as making sure the cables are clean and tight at the battery and at the alternator? Since you don't mention the model year or engine of your Taurus I'm not sure if the alternator is accessible from an open hood, but if it is, does the alternator make any odd noises or feel hotter to the touch than what the engine heat would cause? Do there seem to be any common conditions that cause this to occur, such as only during night driving, only after an extended period at a long stop light, after 5 miles on the highway, etc.?

Do you have a multimeter and are you interested in troubleshooting, or would you prefer to shotgun parts?

-Rod

[RoB51988]

Its a '97 Taurus GL 3.0. It seems like its only happening at night but its only happened twice and I havent had time to really drive it around to see if it will keep happening. I had a friend come by and hook jumper cables to it was the car was dying out and every thing lit right back up. The alternator did not seem hot, and I did make sure all the plugs were on there good.

I just replaced the battery about 1-2 months ago so thats brand new and it hasnt given me any problems until now. The first thing I actually noticed before my heat and radio went out was the ABS light. That came on then the heat and radio went off. Then the air bag light started to flash. The every thing got dim. Then there was some dinging for a minute then that stopped and turned into clicking.

The alternator is right on top and is the easiest thing to get at. I could probably take it off and run it by AutoZone to have them test it. But for some reason after about 5 minutes or so of no power it will charge right back up and will be at full power. It hasent gotten to the point where it feels like the car is going to shut off completely.

But like I said it appears it only happens at night. I really need to get back and forth to jobs with the car but if its really bad for it then I'll have to bus and train it I guess. But its only until Wednesday that I have replace the alternator so I dont know. Should I wait until its fixed?

[shorod]

Running at a low voltage condition can overstress some electronic components, so I would not recommend driving it repeatedly with the issue. I'd still suggest you make sure the cables are in good condition, no looseness, corrosion, including at the fuse/relay panel. Also, are the battery cables the original molded style, or have they been replaced with the "temporary" style where the cable is held to the connector with two bolts? If the temporary style, there's a chance there is corrosion in the connection contributing to or causing the issues. These connectors are like donut spare tires, they are not intended for long term use.

-Rod

[tripletdaddy]

I would concur with Rod on this. It really sounds like a bad or loose connection, leaning towards the later. More likely you have a ground wire loose somewhere, but it could also be a positive wire. While it's running, you could trying wiggling things, wires around with the headlights, radio and heat on to see if you can find the bad connection by getting them to dim or turn off.