No alternator, battery got me home

[obbop]

Pays to have a good newer battery.

Plane landed and the shuttle took me to the '91 Toyota Previa van. Starts up then the smoke rolls out under the hoof. Eeeeeeek!!!!!

Found out later salt on icy roads entered alternator. Rust expands, cracks aluminim alternator case. Unit seized, breaking the belt. Luckily, water pump on a separate belt. Just happened to crack while I was away.

It was still daytime so decided to allow the battery to provide spark to get me closer to home that is 28 miles away. Wanted to lessen the towing bill!!!!

Started off with the alternator light glowing its fearsome red glow.

Sat irate at the red lights, knowing the battery is draining. Figured it would take more juice to shut off and re-start than to just let it idle. Placed auto tranny in neutral when stopped to reduce engine load.

The miles passed. Out of the bad part of town (relief!!!) Closer...... eyes always open for the place to pull over if the battery dies.

Out of town and the speed limit is 55. Hmmmm...... does it matter if I go faster or slower? Does one drain the battery quicker or not?
Oh well, goo the speed limit.

The uninhabited region is behind and I see my little town. The shanty's garage is calling out for the van. Wow!!!!! Will I make it without needing a tow???

Pull into the drive and shut the van off. I'm home!!!! 28 miles with only the battery providing spark. Not having to run headlights helped.

Handy knowledge to possess if the alternator goes out again. The battery was the largest Sears Die-Hard I could fit into the van. The battery was around 8 months old.

Thus ends the tale of the little van that wanted to get home.

 

[brianl703]

I drove about 40 miles in a car only on the battery (well, two of them). A/C compressor had seized up and broken the belt. My preferred mechanic's shop, 40 miles away.

I took a second battery (got it out of my other card) and a cigarette lighter cord and connected the second battery to the cord. The battery was on the passenger side floor in a bucket.

Then I connected a digital multimeter to watch the voltage.

Based on the voltage reading at the end, I could have made it on one battery.

 

[cweed]

once i was racing my old car and shredded the belt, ended up driving home on the battery, then kept using it hehe, not to mention it was your standard Pep Boys brand battery

 

[Matt_S]

I've done this, too. I drove from Ann Arbor to Detroit, then to one of the western suburbs, probably about 50 miles or so, on the battery in a '79 Caprice. This was at night and I had the lights on most of the way before I noticed the problem. Anyway, the car got me home. It needed a jumpstart the next morning, after I got the alternator tightened back down. Oops!

It was fine after that, though. I guess the engine doesn't really need that much juice to fire the plugs. Most of the energy must be for the accessories as far as I can tell.

 

[labman]

Back in 1967, when I can plead youthful folly, I lived in Detroit. I drove my 1964 TR-4 to Wyoming on vacation. I quickly expended the states supply of Lucas generators. Headed East. I drove only in the daytime, and tried to find down hill lies to park on. I did go ahead and play the transistorized radio. I stopped 3 times to have the battery charged before getting back to Detroit. The last time I stopped was the Western edge of Michigan. The service station tried to talk me out of it, saying I would never make it. The battery was what was Sears best before they came out with the Diehard. Perhaps the best battery I ever had.

It was a fairly simple little car, mostly mechanical gages. I don't think the engine required anymore than electricity for the ignition. With the engine shut off, it didn't draw any power.

 

[rgl]

I have also done this in a V8 Dodge van that my aunt had been driving all day. It was showing no indication of any problem but I opened the hood to check something else, I think we were at Wal Mart and wanted to check the oil and I see that there is no longer any alternator belt there! I have no idea how many miles it went on just the battery. If I remember correctly there was no specific alternator light glowing. What really surprised me is there was absolutely no difference in how the van behaved. I wonder just how long it would run before it died.

I try to wash my aluminum alternator for the reason posted. Water (surprisingly) does not appear to harm it even if you spray water right at the holes where the windings are visible. We get lots of salt here too.

 

[Virtuoso]

Not too long ago, I had the connection fall off the back of the alternator on my current SHO while I was driving home. Battery light came on and after a very short while all sorts of funky things happend - air bag light blinking, ABS blinking, ETAC (a/c controller) going crazy.
Battery gave me just enough juice to get my right in front of my brother's house before it died! Glad he lives in between my work & my apt.

He wasn't home so I snuck around back and "borrowed" the battery from his boat for a few minutes while I jumped my Taurus & got me back home. Bet I'll want to replace this battery before winter, eh?

 

[cweed]

sho.... sweet

 

[cryptokid]

heres a interesting story that.

back in the 60's my dad drove a peugeot 404. these cars came with a piece of crap lucas generator that was way to small for the car. during winter my dad had to charge the battery each night because the lucas alternator did not have enough power to overcome the cars electrical system when it was nighttime, having the heater on, headlights, wind screen wipers and the radio. if he didnt charge the battery each night the car wouldnt start in the morning.
and he had a good battery mind you, it was just the generator was a crap design and was way too small for the car.
so finally he got so sick of it he welded up an adapter to mount a gm stile alternator in place of the generator. he said after he did this he never had to charge the car at night again,.

now its 2004 and he still has that lucas generator. he uses it as a wheel chock for his boat trailer. about the only thing its good for!

 

[Jimbo]

Imagine flying along in a small airplane enjoying the scenery and all of the sudden the alternator low voltage light comes on. Reset the circuit breaker and still no life.

Fortunately, the ignition system runs on dual magnetos, fully self-contained. Since it was daytime, no lights were needed. There was plenty left in the battery to use the radio for approach and landing.

Older, non-computerized diesels also can run without electric power, once started. My old dirbikes had mags and no battery.

 

[tdi-rick]

most small capacity, carbureted open wheel race cars run a 'total loss' electrical system, ie:, no alternator.
This saves weight and horsepower.

Rick.

 

[outrun]

Thank god for Reserve Capacity!

That ALONE is a great reason for trying to find the best and biggest battery that will fit your compartment.

This is what I did based on the Apollo 13 movie when my alternator failed.

Remember when Gary Sinise playing the mission "measles" grounded Ken Mattingly had to fool around with the Lander-Odysee to sequence the right amps for safe re-entry?

So when my parents Alternator failed while I was driving that movie came to mind.

I immediately shut off all unecessary accessories...my reasoning being that all of these were drawing crucial amps and hp! (fog lights,interior and cluster lights, stereo, A/C, interior lights, and drove at the lowest rpm possible)

Was my plan useless or effective? Who knows I got to my drive safely and from there would not start!

So one will surely add to this one

 

[SHOZ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Virtuoso:
Not too long ago, I had the connection fall off the back of the alternator on my current SHO while I was driving home. Battery light came on and after a very short while all sorts of funky things happend - air bag light blinking, ABS blinking, ETAC (a/c controller) going crazy.
Battery gave me just enough juice to get my right in front of my brother's house before it died! Glad he lives in between my work & my apt.

He wasn't home so I snick around back and "borrowed" the battery from his boat for a few minutes while I jumped my Taurus & got me back home. Bet I'll want to replace this battery before winter, eh?

---

I have two SHOs. Had the '97 alternator bearings freeze up and have heard of the case cracking. Recently had corrosion at the field connector which prevented charging. Hard to find that had 12V on on side of the plug but not the other.

What year SHO do you have? I have '93 mtx and a '97 V8.

I also had to drive about 40 miles in the day light home on a very small Odyssey PC 625 battery. The '97 has a low voltage cut out that will cut power to the motor if it gets below 10.5V

And yes you will use more electricity going faster.

 

[K-Man]

It was funny how my '97 Escort behaved when the alternator crapped out last year. At first I thought I had an electronic problem with the aftermarket radio/tape/CD player I had installed the previous fall, as the radio kept cutting out. I was near Petersburg, about 50 miles from home. On the way out of the shopping complex at Ft. Lee, the A/C quit. (It was hot that day--in the mid-90s.) Then the tachometer quit working after getting erratic. (Electronic tach.) The power windows quit, but not before I rolled them down just in case; by this time I had figured out what the problem was. I was just trying to get home.

The fuel gauge went next, then finally the speedometer/odometer (completely electronic). At exit 24 on I-95 heading toward Emporia, the car started to run rough and I made a beeline for that exit. At the end of the offramp at the stop sign, the car simply quit. I guess I made it about 30 miles on the battery. Got a tow home, ripped out the alternator--which took only about 1/2 hour, as Ford made it easy to get to--and got a rebuilt unit the next day. By the way, the previous year I had bought the best battery I could find when the original gave up the ghost. That helped.

What annoyed me about this failure is what has happened on several other vehicles on which we've seen alternators fail. The bloody "charge" warning light never came on! Nor, except at the very end, did it not come on with the other warning lights when the car was being cranked. Not seeing it come on when it should light while the car is being started can be a warning sign, but this didn't happen either. Annoying!

The charge light did come on about a month later with the replacement. I yanked it out and replaced it. Knock on wood--no problems since, and it's been a year.

 

[Virtuoso]

quote:

---

Originally posted by SHOZ:
I have two SHOs. Had the '97 alternator bearings freeze up and have heard of the case cracking. Recently had corrosion at the field connector which prevented charging. Hard to find that had 12V on on side of the plug but not the other.

What year SHO do you have? I have '93 mtx and a '97 V8.

I also had to drive about 40 miles in the day light home on a very small Odyssey PC 625 battery. The '97 has a low voltage cut out that will cut power to the motor if it gets below 10.5V

And yes you will use more electricity going faster.

---

Right now I have a '94 Opal Frost ATX. Looks like the alternator on mine was replaced just a few months before I bought with a nice ($210) Napa unit...but they sure did a shoddy job with the rest of the wiring. Do you like your Odyssey batteries? I think it's going to be time to replace mine in the fall (voltmeter says 12.5 volts though).
Hoping to find a nice Rose Mist SHO here eventually.


I remember my dad pulling every fuse possible to get my mom's car home one day. Killed every system not needed.

 

[javacontour]

I did this in a diesel VW Rabbit, but that is not as impressive, LOL

TB