Major Electrical Gremlins!!!

[grober02]

The saga continues. I replaced my alternator with an Advanced Auto refurb last month. All was good up until last week. I was driving down the road and my radio started "skipping" and my headlights faded out. The power seemed very sluggish too. This went on for about 5 minutes, then completed disappeared until last nite. I had to jump start my VX. On the ride home, when I turned my headlights on--the TOD went on the frits and the radio shut off. I'm at a loss here and don't know what to do. The battery is 6 months old (replaced before the alternator). I didn't replace the wire harness, but the connections seem very secure. Any suggestions??? Should I start pulling fuses to see if something is leaking while it's sitting? Or, maybe the "new" alternator is bad...? Very frustrating, especially when winter is approaching and I need 4WD!!!

[WILLY]

I would get the alt.replaced,even though its referbed it might be defective

[Cobrajet]

Sounds a LOT like the symptoms I was having with my Mustang a few months ago. The lights would dim and the radio would shut off when I applied the brakes while the headlights were on. I had a new Diehard battery, and voltage from the alternator would run up to 14+ at speed.

I finally took it to the auto electric experts for an alternator and wiring upgrade. Turned out that the alternator and wiring were OK, but the alternator (from Autozone), had an oversized pulley on it, and was not pushing any juice at idle. He replaced the pulley and serpentine belt, and all was well.

You can take your alternator back to Advance Auto to have it checked, but if it's like mine it will pass inspection, and still be useless. I recommend a good load test of the entire charging system.

[grober02]

Forgot to mention that I also put a new belt on when I swapped alternators. Anybody know of a shop that's good with electrical work??? Possibly in York, PA.

[MrCrowley]

I would say first that its probably the alternator, and if not that, then an electrical connection coming connected/unconnected. Dim lights sometimes means youre running off the battery if the connection to the alternator is broken. Maybe the TOD thing was wildly fluctuating voltage, and the computer got confused?