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From: Phoenix,AZ
issues So this past weekend pnyklr and i replaced my alternator to hopefully solve my weird whine issue. My mechanic also listened to the car and looked at my amp gauge in the car and said its gotta be the alternator. So i bought a new 140 amp alternator for 160 bucks and a new serpentine belt. Well it didnt fix the problem but now the gauge is reading lower than it used to with the old alternator. My gauge is sometimes almost going into the red and the car feels really weak at an idle like its working to stay running and the idle seems to be a little low as well. Normally when i put it in neutral it idles around 900 or so but seems to only be at like 750 now and in drive its around 600-650. I think the water pump is the culprit as far as the annoying whine because everything else seems to be fine. Does it sound like i need another alternator or could it be the waterpump pulley not functioning correctly and makeing the car work harder to spin the pulleys. The reason i am wondering is because my moms stratus had a bad waterpump and the pulley would barely turn and it was causing her car to squeal and shake bad at an idle.
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
What brand alternator is it? Did you have your old one tested BEFORE you went and bought a 'new' one? Did you put a stethescope to it and make sure that's where the whine is coming from? I would still say it's your power steering pump, which is right below the alternator :\
Is it new or remanufactured? If it is reman there may be issues with it. A lot of reman parts come out not working or not lasting long.
Did you ever take the belt off and run the car to see if the noise was still present or not?
Did you ever take the belt off and run the car to see if the noise was still present or not?
and thats a good test actually to take the belt off and start the car to see if the noise is still there without the pullies being driven, Elite and i will have to give that one a go one of these days this week.
Robbie - let me know if you want to try and take off the belt and see if we can try and narrow this down this week and ill swing by, tonight ive gotta try and go and get my motor mounts replaced at Top Gear cause my motor is clunkin like a b*tch!
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EDIT: As an example, my 93 comes factory with 120a, and my car came with the 10speaker system with CD player. Even with my aftermarket deck (shouldn't matter due to the car having a factory amplifier) cranked at idle, I have no light dimming. Yet, with my shitty Corolla, with an aftermarket deck and 2 small POS factory 5oz magnet speakers I can get the interior light to dim lol Mainly because that car has a very low amp to begin with, and idling REALLY doesn't put out anything, even our cars with higher amp alternators. The only benefit to being higher amp is that during idle you'll at least put out a bit more than a lower amperage alternator. Follow me?
I'm with Fergy on it, that's why I said "new" since those Remys most of the time are "test, replace bad component, new bearings and brushes, ship out". Cases are just hot tanked and blasted and look new. Pulleys are probably either new or if painted, just tanked and blasted and re-painted. I like Autolite alternators and starters (I don't now if they sold their line or renamed or what, haven't checked lately), and when I worked at the parts store, it very very rarely came back. A NEW one would've ran more around $200-220 I think though.
Last edited by Formula350; Nov 12, 2008 at 02:49 PM.
Cars are "12v" systems, you can't get a higher voltage one. A higher AMP one is easily possible, but running just bare systems, 140amp is more than enough. Throw a large stereo into it and that'll change.
EDIT: As an example, my 93 comes factory with 120a, and my car came with the 10speaker system with CD player. Even with my aftermarket deck (shouldn't matter due to the car having a factory amplifier) cranked at idle, I have no light dimming. Yet, with my shitty Corolla, with an aftermarket deck and 2 small POS factory 5oz magnet speakers I can get the interior light to dim lol Mainly because that car has a very low amp to begin with, and idling REALLY doesn't put out anything, even our cars with higher amp alternators. The only benefit to being higher amp is that during idle you'll at least put out a bit more than a lower amperage alternator. Follow me?
I'm with Fergy on it, that's why I said "new" since those Remys most of the time are "test, replace bad component, new bearings and brushes, ship out". Cases are just hot tanked and blasted and look new. Pulleys are probably either new or if painted, just tanked and blasted and re-painted. I like Autolite alternators and starters (I don't now if they sold their line or renamed or what, haven't checked lately), and when I worked at the parts store, it very very rarely came back. A NEW one would've ran more around $200-220 I think though.
EDIT: As an example, my 93 comes factory with 120a, and my car came with the 10speaker system with CD player. Even with my aftermarket deck (shouldn't matter due to the car having a factory amplifier) cranked at idle, I have no light dimming. Yet, with my shitty Corolla, with an aftermarket deck and 2 small POS factory 5oz magnet speakers I can get the interior light to dim lol Mainly because that car has a very low amp to begin with, and idling REALLY doesn't put out anything, even our cars with higher amp alternators. The only benefit to being higher amp is that during idle you'll at least put out a bit more than a lower amperage alternator. Follow me?
I'm with Fergy on it, that's why I said "new" since those Remys most of the time are "test, replace bad component, new bearings and brushes, ship out". Cases are just hot tanked and blasted and look new. Pulleys are probably either new or if painted, just tanked and blasted and re-painted. I like Autolite alternators and starters (I don't now if they sold their line or renamed or what, haven't checked lately), and when I worked at the parts store, it very very rarely came back. A NEW one would've ran more around $200-220 I think though.
i ment higher amperage alternator, and the one he purchased actually is an Autolite, and its nice and chrome (not that that even matters but im pretty positive its brand new) Trending Topics
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alright fellas thanks for all the info and ideas on the problem. I just had it at the shop by my house and turns out its the ac compressor. My mechanic took off the belt and spun the compressor and it needs to be replaced. So anybody got a working unit i can buy off of you. Hey ben thanks for offering to help me out but i gotta wait to get either a unit from one of the guys on here or dale can get me one for 150 used. Im gonna see if i can see if the guy on here that i was gonna buy the ac stuff from before still has it. He was gonna sell me all the components for the ac for 100 bucks.
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Verdad Gallardo alright fellas thanks for all the info and ideas on the problem. I just had it at the shop by my house and turns out its the ac compressor. My mechanic took off the belt and spun the compressor and it needs to be replaced. So anybody got a working unit i can buy off of you. Hey ben thanks for offering to help me out but i gotta wait to get either a unit from one of the guys on here or dale can get me one for 150 used. Im gonna see if i can see if the guy on here that i was gonna buy the ac stuff from before still has it. He was gonna sell me all the components for the ac for 100 bucks.
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yeah dude finally all the bullshit will be over for a while at least. I gotta get my water pump changed too cause its startin to leak dale said. Thats gonna cost me 300 bucks. I might pm that dude that was gonna do ur opti for 100 and see if he would do my water pump for cheap. I dunno if i wanna mess with that. Have u done a water pump on our cars before?
oh yea water pumps are easy as hell..there is one bolt that is a bitch to get to and you have to use a stub socket and a swivel extension...to get it out...there are 6 bolts in all....3 on each side....
was he gonna charge you 300 total with a new water pump or 300 plus the water pump? because 300 total is cheap...that water pump will cost you like 150+
was he gonna charge you 300 total with a new water pump or 300 plus the water pump? because 300 total is cheap...that water pump will cost you like 150+
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
If you HAVE to take the water pump off, not because of having to replace the Opti or the Pump, I advise this: Replace them BOTH right then. Why? Simple. You've already gotten it all off, and you're only going to save yourself the time to do it anyways. If you replace them both, you won't have to worry about the pump taking a crap and pissing all over the Opti (especially if it's a new Opti!) or the Opti going out right after you've replaced the pump! Yea, it'd cost a bit to do, but it's going to happen at some point in time.
BTW, chrome ANYTHING is bad bad bad bad bad. So I pray that the one he got isn't chrome. Chrome loves to hold in head, and electronics (as well as engines) hate heat. Polished or powder coated metals are fine and dandy, but I do everything in my power to keep people from putting on chrome stuff to a car they love and plan to drive more than to and from a car show.
"also the alternator is working fine pushing the 14 amps it supposed to"
You two smoked from the same bag, didn't you lol VOLTAGE is the smaller number, AMPS is the bigger number 140 AMPS, 14 VOLTS 
BTW, chrome ANYTHING is bad bad bad bad bad. So I pray that the one he got isn't chrome. Chrome loves to hold in head, and electronics (as well as engines) hate heat. Polished or powder coated metals are fine and dandy, but I do everything in my power to keep people from putting on chrome stuff to a car they love and plan to drive more than to and from a car show.
"also the alternator is working fine pushing the 14 amps it supposed to"
You two smoked from the same bag, didn't you lol VOLTAGE is the smaller number, AMPS is the bigger number
140 AMPS, 14 VOLTS Thread Starter
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Well pnyklr was a little wrong when he said chrome its actually just clean and brand new but its the same as a stock alternator just 140 amps. I wish i could change out the opti at the same time but funds dont support that right now. But in january when i am getting some money ill replace the water pump and the opti because im gonna be freshening up the motor.
Well pnyklr was a little wrong when he said chrome its actually just clean and brand new but its the same as a stock alternator just 140 amps. I wish i could change out the opti at the same time but funds dont support that right now. But in january when i am getting some money ill replace the water pump and the opti because im gonna be freshening up the motor.
but that alternator is sure shiny :grin:
and just for the record, i really dont like chrome its just too played for my style. im thinkin of going flat black on my Sleek Beak in the future with some shiny black rims with a chrome lip.
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yeah its impossible to have ur car a daily driver and have chrome parts. You would be under there cleanin that **** for hours every weekend.
Ben, you should look into come black c6 wheels or those black torque thrust 2's with the chrome lip on them they would probably look pretty bad *** on ur white t/a
Ben, you should look into come black c6 wheels or those black torque thrust 2's with the chrome lip on them they would probably look pretty bad *** on ur white t/a
all my friends keep telling me that get black with a chrome lip, but i kinda like the polished lip better. but eh either way i need my car painted before i go droppin money on some rims.
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yeah thats true, im hopin that big t guy on here still has that ac stuff. I pm'ed him so hopefully he will be on here soon and let me know whats up. Just had another guy say he has all the stuff for the ac for 200 bucks plus shipping which is good too and it only has like 15k miles on it all.