my girlfriend was driving it and it died on her and wouldnt start. she had it towed home on the insurance.




the car had a recent battery in it, I swapped the battery to another car and tried to jump it in that car and it wouldnt jump.


so I assumed bad battery, this morning I took the battery from my impreza put it in the lexus and drove to work


the radio started getting distorted like I was running low on power but the car was driving fine, I turned the radio off and traffic let up and got to speed and then after awhile turned the radio back on and things seemed fine.





then it started up again at the last part of my commute (25 miles, 1 hour and 10 minutes)

the battery light came on
I had to put the car in neutral and rev it up and the light would go out.

I got to work and the car didnt die, but the light stayed on no matter how much revving, and the ABS light came on.







my power steering is still leaking very badly. I have been topping it off in order to ease the steering, is it possible since the alternator is right beneath it that the fluid is messing with the alternator?

Can I clean it up and possibly have a good alternator?

1992 SC400 133k

 

Get Power Steering leak fixed, otherwise it will keep killing your alternator, this is the main cause of alternator failure on 400's.

If you take the alternator apart and clean the wires, brushes, rotor and other interior bits, theres a chance you might fix it, but I've never heard of them being fixed without being refabricated completely. You will probably need to just buy a new alternator, but not until you fix the cause of your leak.

 

ok then new alternator it is.

any tips on how I can get home in this situation? can I get in there with a rag and wipe it down?

 

once the PS fluid has gone into the alternator it has affected the brushes and is likely already corroding inside parts of it if its not charging anymore and killing batteries.
there is only 1 way to fix this on a 400. its super common, happens to every sc400 eventually.
First you fix the leak, then you replace the alternator, in that order.

to get it home I would get it towed again. you can try taking the battery out, charging it up and hoping you can make it back home, but it might go out on you in the middle with that alternator. maybe if you charge up both your batteries you can swap it out if it dies and make it back, but its pretty risky.