help, help, HELP!..

[oredith]

Hi guys, i've called Tom at pelican about this 3 times today.. and i'm beginning to feel bad about taking up his time.. so i thought i'd throw it out to you guys.
senario:
about a month ago, i took out the rain catch tray in hopes of letting more cool air into the engine compartment, and it seemed to help, so it stayed off. about a week ago, we had one of those freak rains in So. California. I drove my car after.. and it was sputtering, and backfired twice (never done that before), but after about 3 minutes driving REAL slowly, the car seemed to fix itself, so i didn't give it that much thought. about a day after that.. i started noticing that the ground light (on the multi-gauge) is going on and off irratically. Two days ago, my battery died, and i replaced it with another (since it was still under warranty) and now it's dead again, making me think it's the alternator. Tom's suggestion was to check the voltage regulator on the circuit board since it's likely it got shorted out when it got wet. After taking it off and cleaning it off.. the ground light stopped going on, but i'm now getting backfire.. BADLY!.. i can drive perfectly fine for about 10-15 minutes.. and then the car sputters and tries to stall.. and backfires between shifts. suggestions?!.. help!.. i'm going to go home and check the circuit board now to see if it's fried.. but are there any other explainations?.. (why it'd work fine for 10 minutes and then start acting up?)..

thanks a lot.. help my car get back on the street!..

Jeff

[rich]

For what it's worth, check your cap,wires,points,and rotor. Sounds like a simple suggestion, but,these are a common source of misfire. I was having a hard starting problem with my BMW 2002. It would barley turn over. Sounded like it was out time. When it WOULD start it had an intermittent back fire. I flipped the key and noticed a big spark jumping from post to post. I installed a new cap and rotor and the car started perfect.
P.S. Oh Ya! Of course I didn't notice the spark jumping til after I tried changing the starter!

[This message has been edited by rich (edited 06-10-99).]

[oredith]

addendom to my origional post.. i changed up the battery again (kragen is pretty good about that).. and ALL the problems went away again.. but the ground light is back on.. very faintly .. but on.. (i couldn't tell until i drove it at night).. no backfire.. no stalling.. perfect idle.. everything's just "dandy".. if that word can be applied to my car.. so is it the alternator?.. looks like i've got a full weekend's worth of work ahead of me..
write me back if you think there's a reason to doubt the performance (the lack of problem) of the alternator, (i'd love to hear any reason to avoid taking that off)

thanks,
Jeff

[Ray Feeney]

Was the shower heavy or light? Was the area
atop the engine case area a big puddle of water? Rich's right, check all the high intensity wiring of distributor/coil/plugs for dampness. Check inside the distributor for same. If you have the original fuel injection, then check all of its wiring. If
the alternator got wet then it may still be
wet and may have an internal short. Tom's right, the voltage regulator could have gotten wet, and is now shorted-out or soon to be shorted-out. Check the ground strap to
the body. Good luck.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Check the voltage from battery post to battery post when the car is running. It should read at least 13V (closer to 13.5V most likely) at idle. At 2000 RPM or more, it should read 13.5-14.5V More means a bad voltage regulator or a short in the VR wiring. Less could be the VR or the alternator itself. Being in the range means that your charging system is fine, the light has a problem. See Jim Thorusen's alternator troubleshooting article on the Pelican site.

The light "compares" the voltage on the D+ wire from the alternator to the voltage coming out of the ignition switch. Corrosion or dirt in any connection can result in a voltage drop. If the drop is on one side, the light will come on. Both sides of that circuit go thruogh the relay board, so cleaning up the connections there (the 3-pin one from the alternator and the 14-pin one at the front) is a good idea. Also clean or replace the fuses (#9 fuse? #8?) in the fuse box. And clean up the terminals where they make contact.

Good luck!

--DD

[rich]

I had a similar problem when my 914 was running. I thought the alternator was bad. Turns out all I needed to do is change and tighten the glazed belt.

[oredith]

change the belt?.. which belt?.. on the alternator?..

Jeff

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yup. The belt goes around the fan (impeller) and around the alternator. There's an article on how to tighten it in the Tech Articles section.

--DD

[oredith]

is it just me?.. or do i have to take off the sparkplugs, the fuel injectors, and the exhaust manifold before i can take off that sheet metal covering the alternator?.. i can't even see the belt right now..

thanks

Jeff

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

It's done from the bottom. Check in Tech Articles.

--DD

[oredith]

ok.. i've got the sheetmetal off from the bottom of the car.. the plastic covers off the top.. but HOW DO I GET THAT BOLT OFF THE ALTERNATOR?!.. i don't have the correct size allen wrench.. but i don't think that's the problem.. i've actually bent the sheetmetal back enough that i got a full grip on the outside of the bolt with a vice grip, and still couldn't get it to budge.. (this is after extensive liquid wrench)

is this one of those wierd connectors that i have to turn clockwise to loosen?!..

i'm going to start hacking away at the thing with a hammer soon!..

Jeff

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Oh, sorry--I didn't understand what you were asking.

First, get the right size allen wrench or socket. Part of your problem is the lack of "the right tool for the job."

Next, pull off the little plastic cover on the front side of the sheetmetal. Front as in front of car. There's a plastic oval cover, just like the one on the side of the sheetmetal.

The front cover gives you access to the nut, and the side cover lets you get some leverage to push the alternator up or down.

--DD

[halbl]

When you get it back together, be sure you carry a good fire extinguisher with you. All the time! Saved me once from a bare wire short between the starter and alternator.