Sobær

Let's see if I can describe this.

When driving, usually with radio on, and AC on full blast, when I go to stop, the car sputters, like the battery is going out, or there's not enough power, or something along those lines. I don't like paying $50 everytime something happens to my car, but it's been doing this for awhile. Any advice?

mikeloc24

Do a search for my screenname and "electrical ghosts" and see if you're experiencing what I was experiencing about a year ago. In my case I replaced the battery and had the negative terminal cleaned and tightened and it fixed my issues. I've also read about the grounds needing to be cleaned and tightened. Good luck man, hopefully your car doesn't shut off on the freeway like mine did, that's when I dropped everything I had to do and got that crap diagnosed and fixed

What makes me think it's the same issue I had is you're saying that it happens when you go to stop...mine was doing the same thing, as well as the sputtering issue.

roo

my alternator went out last week very similar situation....$95, a stripped bolt, and two days later I got everything back together with a new belt and the car is amazingly smooth (yes, it took me two days to get the right size tap socket to get the stripped bolt of....having the right tool is everything!!!)

Try disconnecting the battery while the car is running, the alternator should keep the engine running but if it dies, time to replace the alternator.

lexsc3

I have the kinda the same problem. My radio went out and the lights went dim on my car then slowly the car would die. It would actually still run until you hit the brakes and brought it to a stop. Nothing else would be working but the car would be driving and towards the end the speedo and tach wouldnt be reading right. I'm stuck in Fruita, CO and Im on my way back to cleveland from San Diego. Ive done a search and stuff, anyone have any advice on changing the alternator. Today I jumped it and drove it a couple miles to get my battery charged since the autozone that was able to get the alternator for me overnighted is 20 miles away. the battery light came on while I was parking the car, I mess with the connection on the side of the alternator and cleaned it off alittle, then started the car again, battery light came on and usually it stayed on till the car would die but I reved the engine and it turned off. Also I went to a garage the first time the car went crazy with all the warning lights coming on and they told me it was the battery, so i got a new battery. This was 250 miles from vegas and so I thought it was all good until about 250 miles later when it went crazy again. is there anything else I should check out since I am stuck here with nothing to do untill tomorrow when i will have a new alternator? Any ground connections I should check and clean? I thought 250 miles was alot to go on with just a battery. I had the A/C, my radar dectector, and sub on for the first 250 miles and the AC and radar for about 200 of the second time. I drove the 335 miles from San Diego to vegas the day before without a problem, I had the radar on, A/C on, and the sub on.

roo

lex, i'm 99.9999% sure it's your alternator. Swap that thing out, it should only take about 30mins-hour if you don't strip the top bolt like I did hehe

Oh yeah, my advice would be to make sure you don't strip the top bolt

All you need to take off is a 14mm bolt on top and a 14mm nut on the bottom. Then one other 12mm (i think it was 12mm) holding the grounding wire. Then, simply unplug the old one and install the new one the same way. You should probably hold onto your old one since it looks like you bought a new one....it's worth something. I just took mine off and this place my friend reccomended rebuilt it in about 2 hours for $95. It works great.

lexsc3

did you remove the fan when you replaced yours? Can someone explain how to get the tensioner down to take off the belt?

roo

the fan gets in the way and is a PITA but I didn't need to remove it. The alternator should pivot on the bottom bolt enough to remove the belt. When putting it back on, install the alternator first and then the belt. Leave the top right pulley for last with the belt and the tensioner should allow you just enough slack to get it on there. (use a flathead screwdriver if neccesary)

JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

This just happened to me today! Its the alternator. When I took mine out I noticed that the bottom of it was drenched in oil and dirt.

Sobær

Awesome guys. You just made my day, sort of. xD

Sorry, mods, I was 30% sure it was supposed to be posted in this sub-section.

Anyways, I'm gonna clean the ground, and retighten it on there, and if that doesn't work, I'll try disconnecting the battery with the car running. By, "should keep the car running", do you mean just give it 5 minutes, or will it take longer, or less time to die? Thanks guys.

lexsc3

so i change my alternator and as im putting it back together the bolt on the tensioner broke......i ordered a new tensioner at the local toyota dealer since there isnt a lexus dealer for 250 miles and the tension pulley looks like it will come off any second....my question is how to I change the tensioner? what do I have to take off to access the bolt connecting it to the engine? Lastly thanks for all the help, Im on a roadtrip back home and its been a nightmare, I just want to get home now.

roo

if the alternator is bad, the car will die right away when you disconnect the battery

roo

wish i could help you there but I haven't had to deal with that on this car yet....i know my friend needed a special tool to mess with it on his LS....hope someone can chime in here.