tyncobb

Can anyone figure this out? I recently have had many repairs made starting 3 months ago: Power Steering Pump went out & repair shop replaced it with a new ps pump & then power went out the next day. They had to put in an altenator (Bosch Reman new) and new battery in May. Everything was fine for the past 3 months. Then last weekend, I decided to do major tune-up by myself; including spark plugs (NGK Platinum) Wires (NGK) Distributors & rotors (Bosch) and also replaced both Ignition Coils (Lexus) {I read eveyones comments in Club Lexus about that DS Coil and it is a major pain to get out and put back in, even with the battery removed!**. Started it up afterwards and all last week and it drove great. Have put about 500 miles on and all of a sudden today, noticed AC would flucutate from high to almost nil for an hour or two and flat spots in idle when at a stop and it seemed like the windows struggled to go up; so I knew something was up with the power. Finally at 5pm, was idling while tire store checked my tires and the car just died. Would not turn over. They jumped it and while I was paying for the tires, it died again. Just got to my office and have left it there overnight. Think maybe Ill have to start checking the ingnition coil connections again tomorrow, but it sounds like this may be an alternator problem???? ANY SUGGESTIONS OR ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. Ive put so much money into this in the last 3 months along with a broken back and knucles from the tune-up last week, this is now driving me crazy. THANKS

deanshark

Sounds like that reman alt you had put in is not charging b/c it will take a jump and quit right after. Or it could just be that the wires on the alt weren't tightened enough and they came loose. That would be where I would start. Is the battery light lit on the dash? You say it won't turn over, do you mean it won't crank or it wont start?

tyncobb

After it died the first time, they jumped and started it up, then after idling for another 5 minutes while I was paying the bill, it died again and the battery was so weak it would not turn over, but when jumped it did crank and started up again. Then I only dared drive it 10 miles without any accessories on to my office, for fear it woul die again. There were no check battery or check engine lights that went on at all. ?? What would that mean? Thanks for the help and suggestions. Could a $300 Bosch reman go bad that fast, 5 mos & probably 15,000 miles??? Today I first noticed the problem when I had my air conditioning turned up to max and all of a sudden the blower would most stop completely for abot 10 to 15 secs and it kept doing that especially at loer rpm's near a stop. And when I got out of the car the next couple of times, the tilt wheel went up real slow and windows were slow and labored. Then, after driving about 20 miles to the tire shop that's when it died while idling. I will get under it and check the wires in the morning.

deanshark

Yes that reman alt. can be bad already. Ya could have gotten one that wasn't rebuilt good. But it makes me think b/c the bat light should come on if it's not charging. It could also be a bad ground wire somewhere. Does it start quick with a jump or does it have to charge for a bit before it starts?

tyncobb

Yes both times it started within the first 15 to 30 seconds and within the first couple of engine cranks. Where would I check the ground wires other than on the neg battery terminal? I have been hearing a high pitched whine and ticking noise in the past two weeks, but it sounded and felt a bit like it was coming from my transmission, so I actually was preparing to drain the fluid, change the filter and clean the pan tomorrow and all of a sudden I had this problem today. Could that noise possibly have been the alt? Thanks for your int, knowledge help and suggestions.

deanshark

The whining that you hear could be the power steering if it's low on fluid. Even though you had a new one put in, it could be leaking which would leak on top of the alt. and, in time, kill that.

tyncobb

OKAY, so today, I went out this morning and the car started up right away. Checked the PS fluid and it is full (hasn't lost any fluid since new PS pump & hoses installed 5 mos ago and no noise from pump or belts). Went to Advance Auto and they did electronic check of Battery, Starter and Alternator. Here are the readings: Battery (Good Results) Voltage 12.53V, Measured 644 CCR & Rated 640 CCA with temp at 89 degrees. Starter (Cranking Normal Results) Voltage: 10.83V, Amps 0.0A, Time: 986 mSeconds. Charging System Test Alternator (Excessive Ripple Rsults) No Load 12.75V Loaded 13.00V graph started at 0.24V and went down to -0.24V and my graph line went from top to bottom of graph 4 times, it said the Ripple was 443mVolts and then the print out said: Charging System Problem, check belts, connnections and grounds, alternator service recommended if connections are OK. Advance Auto tech, said to check grounds on Alternator, as Battery appeared OK. If not that, he thought it may be the regulator in the alternator going bad. I'm going to get under it now and check the ground on the Alternator and hopefully that is it. If not, I guess I will take it into a shop to have them check for a short? Where would they start and how many places could this short potentially be, and would it be an outrageous expense to check this? Thanks again for all of you suggestions and help, any advice is greatly apprecitated. WHAT DO ANY OF YOU GUYS MAKE OF THOSE READINGS???

deanshark

Seeing how the noise isn't your PS pump and you're not charging correctly then the noise is probably your alt. I would suggest bringing it back (with that printout) to the place you had the alt installed and tell them it is bad. It must still be under warranty, right? If it is warranteed they should put in a new one for you but I doubt the labor charge would be part of the warranty even though they did it.

3UZFTE

I got lost in that sea of unneeded information. I would think that the car is dying because the battery was weak and the alt couldn't keep up with the load. I read that it's reading 13v with load on, I would think that this number would be higher than that. Have a good shop look at it, anyone who sold their work, and it dies as your driving away, should offer to examine it again, just my thoughts....

ntrsssgti8

basically bosch makes 2 kinds of rebuilt alternators, there is the kind that the only thing they replace is what is broken and then there are the ones that the only thing the don't replace is the case. At idle you should get 13.8+ with a strong load. If you have an Advance Auto near you take it there and they have a new state of the art system tester and they can do a complete test on your entire system including the starter and they will give you a print out of everything that they find, also it is free. if that alternator comes back low bring it back to the shop that replaced it and get it warrentied any reputable shop should stand behind the work and do it for free.

Max Power

I definitely think it's the alternator. Either its just bad (very possible, I had one die on me within 2 months), or power steering fluid leaked onto it at some point.

Theres always the bad connection possibility. A loose connection on the battery terminal could cause that.