PLEASE help diagnose!! alternator??
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Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 446
Likes: 2
From: California
PLEASE help diagnose!! alternator??
hey club lexus, i was driving today and suddenly my dash lit up and steering got VERY stiff (power steering out?) i pulled over, turned the car off and it wouldnt turn back on. lights didn't work either I tried the emergency. I tried a portable jumper and it didnt start for a while but all lights came on. The towing guy came and tried it with his jumper, car was on for a minute and then died.
battery is new i got it in february.
also when i was jumping it there was still a lot of current in the battery when everything was off (negative terminal was giving large spark) so im thibking theres a short in the alternator?
what do u guys think? currently it's at my house; need to tow it to a shop soon.
Thank you!
parsa
battery is new i got it in february.
also when i was jumping it there was still a lot of current in the battery when everything was off (negative terminal was giving large spark) so im thibking theres a short in the alternator?
what do u guys think? currently it's at my house; need to tow it to a shop soon.
Thank you!
parsa
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 68
Likes: 1
From: MO
I just had this issue. This is what happened to me, i was coming home and was parking in front of my house when my steering wheel got extremely stiff and my breaks were extremely hard to press. I called the dealer and described the symptoms and they stated that they believed it was the alternator because it is a common issue for the alternator to fail.
More than likely it is the alternator is the reason. Do some quick research on how to replace the alternator on an IS250. For me it took me about 2 hours myself to replace the alternator but i am not a person who works on cars a lot just enough to learn the basics.
More than likely it is the alternator is the reason. Do some quick research on how to replace the alternator on an IS250. For me it took me about 2 hours myself to replace the alternator but i am not a person who works on cars a lot just enough to learn the basics.
Thread Starter
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 446
Likes: 2
From: California
thanks for the reply man I appreciate it. so you changed it yourself huh? I'll look into it as I would love to save the money but I have not replaced/repaired anything like this before. i dont want to mess something up lol
Rookie
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 68
Likes: 1
From: MO
lol I felt the same way the only trouble i had while doing it was getting the alternator bolts to break loose. Once they broke loose and i took off the pulley that sits closest to the alternator and took the nut behind the alternator off it just pivots right out and then the new one will pivot right in. I thought I was going to mess up my baby but i went slow and everything went very smoothly.
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Back in the days a good way to diagnose the alternator was to get the engine running and while on remove the negative terminal off the battery and if the engine dies then its the alternator.
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tpham7
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Oct 7, 2004 05:41 AM
