chammond

I had my '88 Carrera out last night and while driving, the car started losing power upon acceleration and started bucking. Since it was starting to get dark, I had my lights on, but with the loss of power, I ended up turning the lights off. The car seemed to run a bit better for a short period of time.

After about 5 more minutes (lights off) the car just died. Luckily I was in a parking lot so I didn't have to find a place to pull over. I tried to start it, but it wouldn't even crank/turn over....symptomatic of a dead battery. I had to push it to a parking space and leave it.

I just recently replaced the VR (had the seat belt warning light issue) and everything seemed to be fine over the past 2 weeks. All of my battery measurements seemed fine once the VR had been replaced. I haven't been over to check the battery with a voltmeter, but will get there this morning to see if it's shot. I just replaced it in August.

Could it be the alternator? DME relay?

Any other ideas what it might be?


Thanks,

Chris

theiceman

Dead alternator my friend .... pull it out and have it rebuilt. Recharge your battery .. start the car I bet you will be getting less than 12 volts and certainly not the 13.5 - 14 you are suppose to be getting ..

The Race Line

yep that would be my guess as well. Oddly enough and I am not sure if this is still the case with the later generations, I think I remember seeing that if one of the dash lights have blown out, it will essentially place an open circuit into the alternator as well.

Keep in mind that I am basing this on my 1969 which may be quite different. It sounds like the alt. to me though.

Erik Johnson
(303) 895-4828 cell

chammond

Thanks for the replies....here's a update:

I went out and measured the battery voltage and it's at 11.4 volts. So I clearly have a battery/alternator issue.

I have to recharge it and try to limp home this afternoon and go from there. Could this be caused by the VR or is this an alternator problem?

The VR is only a few weeks old. I triple checked the alternator wiring when I did the VR replacement (even marked the posts with color) to make sure I didn't connect the wires to the wrong poles when I reinstalled it.

Thanks,

Chris

Rick K

Had the same exact experience in my old 1980 SC...twice.

First time was caused by me damaging the bulb in the dash for the alternator light (as mentioned above). Second time the alternator crapped the bed.

chammond

Now that you both mention it, the alternator light on the dash was not lit up and didn't light up with the key in the on position. All other lights did turn on. Maybe that is the source of my problem. Would that cause the alternator to not charge the battery?

How tough is it to replace that bulb?

Chris

whalebird

Easy. Pull the gauge housing (the gauge with the bulb) straight towards you and gently reach behind it to unplug the wires. You will see how it comes apart. The gauge may need a little work to get out, but it is just held with a rubber "bushing" wrapped around the gauge itself.

theiceman

the circuit with the alternator bulb in it is the excitation current that sets up the field for the alternator . Fix this first. If you have a spare battery charge this and take it to .. I doubt a battery would last 2 weks ..also if it is a chineese regulator it could have crapped out.

The Race Line

Ha the things that you happen to remember when most needed. Amazing that I remembered it at all.

Happy to help, and I hope it is as simple as a bad bulb.


Erik Johnson

ron mcatee

The VR is integral tot he alternator on your 88. Did you only change the VR and not check out the alternator. The VR's could be changed out easily on older cars, but the 88 requires full removal. Just curious.

theiceman

That would surely suck to pull the whole thing out again .. but i think that is where this story is heading .. my 78 has external VR and easy to get to .. so that being said it will never fail

chammond

Ok, so I went to get the car and got it running. After about 2 miles, it died again, so I ended up parking at my parents house, limping all the way.

The alternator is definitely not charging the battery so I guess I'm going to have to pull the gauge to fix the light. Then I'll pull the fan blade and housing off again to have the alternator checked out and rebuilt if need be.

I guess in the end, I'm getting to know my car better everyday. Things could be worse

Thanks for all the guidance. I'll report back what I find, but I won't be able to tackle this until the Thanksgiving weekend as I'm going out of town for a week.

Chris

chammond

Yup...pulled the whole thing apart and only replaced the VR. When I checked the voltage at the battery before doing this with the car running, the voltage read 14.4v on my multi-meter, so I figured the alternator was ok.