alternator seized infront of my eyes tonight

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:18 am

so, my car started making a very weird rattling noise. at first, i thought it was just something in the engine bay that had gotten loose and was vibrating, but it started getting bad, and didn't stop or change pitch when i rev'd. anyways, i got out of the car while it was running, popped the hood, and listened around. the rattling got really loud all of a sudden, and then the alternator seized, letting off a bunch of smoke from the belt rubbing against the non-turning pulley. it was really weird. it didn't help that i was across town and freezing out. what really sucks is that im suppose to be in Denver tomorrow for jury duty, and im stuck in fort collins since the alltrac isn't quite streetable right now (needs an air flow meter, which inadvertently is also in Denver)

anyways, i though i would share that story with you all. i guess i need a new alternator. does anyone know if a N/A 90-94 legacy alternator is the same, or are they specific to turbo legacys....

stipro · Post by **stipro** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:23 am

The alternator from any legacy 90-94 will work.

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:25 am

sweet. that makes everything easier

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:45 am

If your battery's charged, you can drive for about half an hour with no alternator. If there's a Checker or Advance nearby, and your karma's good, you could drive there, buy a new alternator and belt, and install it on the spot in the morning on your way to Denver.

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:51 am

yeah, but i need to be in denver at 8am, and its an hour and a half drive,so there really isn't a way i can make it. there is a napa that a friend works at thats less than 5 minutes from where the car is at, so i'll call him tomorrow

so, is this a common subaru thing, or was this a freak accident?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:09 am

Dang. Good luck.

I've never heard of it happening... usually alternators fail by just not producing the power they should.

How many miles did this alternator have on it?

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:37 am

i have no idea. if it was the original, than 156k. it sounded like something was rattling around inside of it.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:53 am

Crazy. The bearings failed before the electrics/electronics.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:02 am

It was probably rebuilt and they fixed the electronics and didn't replace the bearings. that would explain it.

internetautomart · Post by **internetautomart** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:45 am

magicmike wrote:It was probably rebuilt and they fixed the electronics and didn't replace the bearings. that would explain it.

sounds like a typical autozone rebuilt to me

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:21 am

haha, so i got a napa one today. i didn't make it 10 miles without having that one sieze. WTF.

i'll be on my third alternator when i get another one tomorrow. this is retarded.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:30 am

Ooh. Hmm. That's suspicious.

Is it possible that either your crank pulley or your power steering pump pulley is misaligned? Or that you're severely overtightening the belt? It sounds like something is putting undue stress on the alternator's bearings.

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:35 am

vrg3 wrote:Ooh. Hmm. That's suspicious.

Is it possible that either your crank pulley or your power steering pump pulley is misaligned? Or that you're severely overtightening the belt? It sounds like something is putting undue stress on the alternator's bearings.

belt had play in it, not too much though. 1/4" in either direction at most. i might have over tightened it, since the belt snapped in half.

how would those pulleys get misaligned?

i know on the first one, i had driven at least 3,000 miles on it without any problems, and i haven't touched anything on it till today when i removed the alternator. i haven't touched the crank or powersteering pulleys.

Oh, driving without powersteering is a bitch. damn...

SubaruNation · Post by **SubaruNation** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:05 am

that evo vid is pretty sick

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:43 am

Wow, unless the belt was in really bad shape, you had to have been overtightening it for it to snap.

1/4" seems a little tight, but not ridiculously so...

I don't know what would cause one of the pulleys to become misaligned. I suppose it could be as simple as incorrect mounting of either the power steering pump or alternator, though I remember both being fairly simple.

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:54 pm

well, i did mount it pretty quickly. i'll take my time this time, and give the belt some more slack

that belt was brand spanking new BTW

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:56 pm

well, looks like third time is the charm. its running well again. i really hope there isn't another problem with this one.

i think the failure the second time might have been a bad replacement. i remember thinking that it didn't really spin very freely. this one spun much more freely. all of the pulleys are aligned to the best i can tell.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:40 am

Cool.

denver_whitest185 · Post by **denver_whitest185** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:45 am

yep, we're good. two trips to Denver and back, and no problems

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:13 pm

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:49 pm

I helped my nephew replace the alternator in his 89 Acura. The original lasted 150k miles before failing and he didnt notice until the battery ran dead.

We replaced it with a rebuilt from Pep Boys. 200 miles later it failed and again the battery was drained. Another replacement and about 100 miles later the same problem.

We tried to get the money back and after much arguing they agreed but wanted the alternator back. This didnt make sense because we would end up with no alternator/core!

Finally we chalked it up as a loss and bought one from a local rebuilder. 800 miles so far with no issue.

internetautomart · Post by **internetautomart** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 3:08 am

ciper wrote:I helped my nephew replace the alternator in his 89 Acura. The original lasted 150k miles before failing and he didnt notice until the battery ran dead.

We replaced it with a rebuilt from Pep Boys. 200 miles later it failed and again the battery was drained. Another replacement and about 100 miles later the same problem.

We tried to get the money back and after much arguing they agreed but wanted the alternator back. This didnt make sense because we would end up with no alternator/core!

Finally we chalked it up as a loss and bought one from a local rebuilder. 800 miles so far with no issue.

when they give you the money back they should refund the core charge as well. I made autozone do that on my alternator.

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alternator seized infront of my eyes tonight

alternator seized infront of my eyes tonight