As read on Lextreme ,Not "IF" but "WHEN" your alternator will go out
today it went out
after a nice summers-day wash and wax i took her for a ride and i stopped at the gas station to clean a few spots on my window who i seems to miss while cleaning her , when i saw some smoke coming underneath the car
popped the hood and it was smoking , a smell of burned oil and i immediately thought about a steering pump spill on the right side manifold , didn't fill the gas tank because of the fire hazard and drove her back home
a 10 KM or 1.5 miles drive , first i got a CELL and a TRAC/off light , stopped over to see if it went worse but stable so drove on , then my TRAC light came on , radio stopped , ABS light came on and last the battery light came on
my cluster lights began to dim and i almost couldn't see the cluster , quick i closed the window and roof and got ready to a total fail out of the car , i had almost no electrics and i'm almost home , i stopped to put it in reverse to park her , but at that moment she died , i could push her into a parking spot and she is sitting there , no battery power and the smoking has stopped
i took out the battery and it is charging at this moment , i just ordered a new alternator ( LS400 10UCF) and i hope to get it this Wednesday , tomorrow i will see if i can get a rebuild kit for the steering pump who ....i think .... has caused the problems
not planning on rebuilding the alternator because i can imagine the mess the ATF has caused to it

 

Ya, have to keep an eye for the pump leak on the 400s. I figure best to just check it whenever you do your oil changes. I think if we factor out the leaky PS causing alternator failure, they don't normally die out.

 

Yes Zerodrag its a common problem i know and it leaked just a little bit , but even that is to much

today i took out the alternator and power steering pump
i will rebuild the pump and replace the alternator with a new one hopefully arrive on Wednesday

 

I have a similar problem, been dealing with it for a little while now. So was it indeed steering fluid that was smoking?

My alternator checked out OK at AutoZone, but not so well on the car.

 

thats what i think yes , while driving the power slowly died , cluster dimmed till she died completely
still waiting for the part to do the rebuild and the new alternator



pump is out , still no idea when it leaked , guess that the shaft leaked
didn't test the alternator , pretty obvious that it died

 

4 words: Bleach bottle alternator shield.

Get a round bleach bottle, discard or otherwise use the bleach. Cut up bottle to make a shield for your new alternator.

 

That's how mine is acting. I know I'm getting close to an empty battery when my brake lights turn the radio off. I keep a charger in the car -It'll run about 35 minutes on a full charge. Sometimes the alternator works, sometimes it doesn't. Often, I can run it up to 4000 RPM's or so and it will come on for a while.
It's annoying that my alternator checks out OK, perhaps there's just enough of a drip to interfere. I've only added a little fluid once since March, and what's in there is clear & cherry red.

If you rebuild your alternator, I'd like to know what kind of damage you find inside. I'm curious how the fluid interferes with operation.

matguy: As far as a shield goes, I've thought about that. But heat is mortal enemies with semiconductors, it seems like that would be counterproductive long term. Right now however, I'd probably set the thing on fire if I thought it'd help get me where I'm going!

 

You're not covering the whole thing, just building a shield that deflects the power steering fluid from entering the windings and contacts. If done right there still should be plenty of airflow for most of the alternator. And the main semiconductors are at the back, anyway, with the rectifiers and voltage regulators. In front and middle are the magnets, windings, and contacts, which are what you're really saving from the fluid.

 

Alright, I'll give it a go. I may do the reverse and put a semi-cylinder around the bottom of the PS pump instead, we'll see how it looks when the alternator is off.

 

not planning to rebuild the alternator , bought a new one



got this from Planet Soarer

"C" indicates the little hole that is commonly used on water pumps and power steering pumps to indicate the failure of the seal with out affecting the bearing. Once you see fluid or water come out of this small hole your seal needs replacing.


never checked this out before i took the pump out , but knowing this now a shield under the pump might be a good option