I've done the search on this and found out that this is just the beginning of the end for the alternator. A diode is going out or something. It just started happening the other day soon after i washed my car. My hood has a big scoop and there is nothing covering the alternator, so each time i wash it i put a shirt over my motor. Could water have gotten in the alternator a long time ago and shortened its life? I'm a little worried about how long it has left. It keeps burning the wire off of the alternator to the positive of the battery. That wire also is tied into my computer port and when the wire burns all hell breaks lose, rough idle, ses light and various other things. Anyways, how much longer does my alternator have? What would be a good replacement for my soon to be fallen comrade? Right now my amp gauge reads 12 in park, and a little under that in drive. Once i crank up the stereo and turn on the ac it sits pretty at a little about 8. Anyone have any advice for me?

 

Water and alternators don't mix. An occasional light spray by the hose when cleaning the engine compartment probably won't hurt it, but having it open to the elements is not good. I would replace it right away. Burning wires is a fire hazard and could cause problems with other electrical circuits in the car. Replace the alternator, and block off the hole in the hood.

 

block off the hood? i hope i dont have to go to that route, there has got to be something i can use to shield the alt, the whole purpose of the hood was for the air induction. but yeah, water and alt dont mix. im thinking i have about a week left in it, but i have a cruise to go to this saturday .

 

I say make or buy a tube of some kind, and attach to the opening of the inside of the hood. And direct the tube to where you want the air directed, that way there would be less chance of particles and water and stuff hitting other things.

 

Mine did that and since I wanted to keep the original alternator I took it to a local starter alternator repair shop and they replaced the diodes and bearings for about $40.00, that's a lot better than buying one of those crappy rebuilt ones at the parts store.

 

Just cover the alternator with a towel or something when you wash it. It's possible the battery is toast and the alternator is trying really, really hard to charge it. If not, that alternator could kill the battery by overcharging it. Have the battery checked out. I find it strange that the wire keeps burning(indicating it's trying to charge the battery too much) and you only have 12 volts. Have the alternator and battery checked out. If the battery is over 4-5 years old, just replace it. If you want a good replacement alternator, buy a new one. Or have a shop rebuild yours. Or buy the parts and rebuild it yourself.

 

Mine started to whistle last fall, so I ran out and got a brand new one with a lifetime warranty,and guess what? It whistles too!!

I guess I won't have any warning next time.

 

Well, the battery is new, i just got it a couple of months ago with a 72 month warranty. Its alot bigger of a battery then what comes stock (i wanted more cold cranking amperage and more battery). I checked everything out on my car and i was wrong when i said it was only at 12 volts, its actually normally at 14, sometimes 15 volts. When i first fire the car up in the morning, even now with the whistling alternator, it will sit at 14 volts. As it warms up it will move up a tad. Once the idle kicks down it will sit at 13. When i put it into drive (with the stereo on, its only 1 600 watt amp) it will usually dip down around 11 volts. At night with the headlights on and the heater on, it will settle around 8 volts. Kinda scary. I've driven my car 10 miles before on only the battery with the ses light blaring at me when i burned the wire down to nothing and i had to get home from out of town. I'm not too worried about the alt. now that i hear its not for sure going to die. But if i do get a replacement, would it be bad to get an alt for a 350 iroc? Wouldnt that bolt on the same way? Im sure it would provide more power then my stock 87 z28 alt.

 

For $30 you can get a rebuild kit for it. Takes about an hour to do, just make sure you have a large soldering iron.