Alternator problems

[Supra_Soul]

Alright, so I'm on my third alternator now and found out today that its no longer charging. The only reason I could come up with is that my power steering pump is leaking pretty bad, but would that destroy it? And is the voltage regulator in the alternator or separate??

I changed the P/S pump (actually I just threw in the 6M:D:D:D:D:D) so hopefully when I put in a new one tomorrow it will last me more than a month.

[Black_fin]

PS fluid will definately kill an alternator. Killed mine. The regulator is in the alternator. Cheers

[Supra_Soul]

Well, after sitting over night, it seems to be charging fine.... I would assume that the oil cleaned itself out. I talked to the mechanic at my work and he said the oil doesn't kill the alternator, it just stops the armatures/brushes from touching. Guess I'll just have to keep an eye on my voltmeter.

[Hellraiser456]

check your wiring...alternators are a pretty simple part when you come down to the terms of it.

most cases the only reason they break is due to a ton of stress...whether its in a month weak or over a few years. if you are burning out alternators my guess would be that you have a short somewhere.

alternators don't know the difference between a short and a complete circuit and since a short is essenially an unlimited draw..it will max out your alternator which will lead to extremely premature wear...and an over all loss of voltage and amperage

how does your battery hold up?

i can't imagine ps oil doing alot of physical damage to the alternator..it would just restrict the amount of electricity that could be produced because of the resistance of the oil inside. plus doesn't the alternator sit away from the PS pump..i can't remember ifd it does or doesn't..

anyway get a ohm meter and check for ground faults...

[Supra_Soul]

Hmm. I had a wire come loose from my battery the other day (the positive that doesn't go to the starter) and it caused some strange things to happen. The tach was bouncing between 6000 and 10000 (yes I know it only goes to 8000), I blew a headlight and the voltmeter topped out over 18v. Needless to say I shut it of immediately and pulled over. Now it seems to be overcharging at ~15v if held over 3000 rpm for more than a few minutes. I guess I gotta buy a new one now anyways.

Oh, and the alternator is located directly beneath the PS pump on the MKII.

[Hellraiser456]

oh well then yes the oil would have a great impact...however i think it would still yet more hinder it than physicly destroy it...it would make really dirty