96 Cavalier 3rd Alternator in 2yrs

[litsilv]

Jan 06 previous owner replaced the alternator. I purchased in Feb 06 within a couple months battery light kept coming on and off, by May 06 battery was dead and replaced. Battery light still coming on same thing----took to mechanic throughout all of this and kept telling me alternator testing fine, of course never saw the battery light when it was in the shop. Finally Aug 06 the car died completely on the road. Same mechanic finally said it was the alternator and replaced. I asked why 2 so soon, answer probly got a bad 1st one?
Car was ok for 1 yr, now Sept 07 I had it in for another problem and it had just started whining a couple days before it went in---different mech said it was my alternator. Drove a couple weeks with the noise and the abs light started coming on sometimes (happened when the 1st was letting go also) So of course I went back to 1st mech unfortunately. He made a statement that has seen Cav's in last year with something electrical wrong causing these to keep going bad. Unfortunately all he did was say my battery bought in May 06 was cracked, replaced and did nothing else. Needless to say, whining is still there and within 2 days the abs light in coming on depending on how many items I'm using (lights, wipers, heat etc)
Planning on going to yet another Mech this Fri, but does anyone maybe know what is causing these alternators to keep going?

[jakegday]

i dont know whats causing it, but i know its a common problem on these cars, which is whey i paid $30 more for the lifetime warranty when i bought mine, as far as your abs light goes, mine did the same thing, mine did it because when you start your car, that first foot or 2 your car moves your abs does something (like it does a really small test then kicks on) that uses ALOT of power from the battery, since your bad battery/alternator isnt making ALOT of power, your abs senses that halfway through this so called "test" and it just backs out and doesnt kick on, causing the light, so once you get the battery/alternator figured out, theres a very good chance your abs problem wont exist anymore

[shakewell]

Very common problem. The alternators just suck. Also, if your battery was crap it strains the alternator causing it to die sooner. Make sure you don't have a parasitic draw (something draining the battery when the car is off) because that can also make the alternator work overtime trying to charge the battery up.

Like jakegday said - get a lifetime warranty one and save your receipt.

[muff34]

Does your car have a big sound system in it or is it factory stereo? Also like the other guys said get a good quality alternator . It is nice to get lifetime warranty but what sucks here is that you still pay for labour to have it changed after a certain length of time unless you can do it yourself. Any electrical stuff get ac/ delco not just anything from car parts store. Have a friend with a`96 sunfire abs light was coming on also along with other wierd electrical stuff ,it turned out to be alternator related. if you think somethiing is drawing power all the time then you can perform this test. Get a digital volt meter,(some will say test light ,but not as accurate) disconnect neg battery cable . put the leads in between cable and battery post . there should be no power draw. if there is then you have to start pulling fuses one at a time till you find which circuit is faulty. Do the interior light circuit first and leave that one fuse out while doing test

[litsilv]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately I'm not a mechanic, have just been very unlucky trying to find one that will listen to me and help figure a solution to the problems. So I figured I would try to do some problem solving myself. Besides this I also have the issue of it wanting to overheat and have gone thru multiple mechanics and part replacements on that also.
So tommorrow off I go to a 5th mech! I have printed this out and also what I have read on the overheating issue and I am taking this to the new guy.
Will post if I have any better luck this time!