Bad Alternator = Answer to all my problems

[amoujaffar]

as many of you have seen in my previous posts i've been experiencing a funny noise in certain rpm ranges on my car for some time now, never was able to figure it out, and i was hoping it wasnt the flywheel. I was hoping that replacing the belt/tensioner/pulley would fix it but the sound remained.

well as i was driving today i was frequently getting a battery light when i passed through the range with the annoying sound. when i went to get on the freeway, i punched it (btw i was in straight hood, cleveland) smelled something funny, and found the battery light was on. lucky for me the next exit lead to my church where i knew i could easily park under the safety of security cameras (that my company put in). i found the belt completely shredded. also i found that the noise was now missing.

so i've come to the conclusion that my alternator was bad, and therefore vibrating thru those rpm ranges, causing the belt to come off and be shredded once it was caught.

does anyone agree with this theory?? because right now that's all I have to go on. if so, anyone know a good place for an alternator. a euro parts place near me has them for 275$.

thanks guys!

[alhoward101]

idk if u have any room in there to check but if u can try to loosen the belt and wiggling the pulleys and spin by hand that the belt sits on, if a belts shredding I would think it's hopping off the pulley from a component or a pulley itself being loose, you'll be able to tell, u can also grab a $15 multimeter to check and see if your alternator is pumping out a charge before you replace it

[amoujaffar]

idk if u have any room in there to check but if u can try to loosen the belt and wiggling the pulleys and spin by hand that the belt sits on, if a belts shredding I would think it's hopping off the pulley from a component or a pulley itself being loose, you'll be able to tell, u can also grab a $15 multimeter to check and see if your alternator is pumping out a charge before you replace it

well since the belt is gone I have no way of telling of it does power BUT ive come to the conclusion that it is either the alternator or a botched job by my audi tech. So I ordered a alt from joeyc and it will be swapped in. If the problem persists then I sell the working alternator and make the guy fix the original mistake. But I don't think this is the case so we'll see what happens.

[BCsniper]

Wow, sounds like you jumped the gun a little.

It sounds like your tensioner and/or idler pulley is going/has gone bad. I would have bought a new belt, pulley, and tensioner. Replace those and see if it solves your problem. From that point if you're not receiving any power, then look at the alt. Replacing the alt. is not exactly the most fun job, so I'd make sure it isn't the much simpler fix.

[05 B6 S4]

Yea could have been the tensioner being loose and the bearing going. Thus throwing the light randomly not constantly. Maybe or it may have b een the Audi Smurf.

[amoujaffar]

Wow, sounds like you jumped the gun a little.

It sounds like your tensioner and/or idler pulley is going/has gone bad. I would have bought a new belt, pulley, and tensioner. Replace those and see if it solves your problem. From that point if you're not receiving any power, then look at the alt. Replacing the alt. is not exactly the most fun job, so I'd make sure it isn't the much simpler fix.

As I said above they were replaced. Less than a month ago. New belt, tensioner, and pulley. I knew the original tensioner was bad, which probably caused the alternator to spin wrong and lead to this problem.

[Kstartype]

Damn I wish I saw this I am trying to get rid of my extra Alternator (not the dead one- there are two alternator models for the '04 I bought both). But none of these symptoms sounded like the issues I had with my alternator although my belt was not shredded it definitely was ready to be replaced in the next 5-10K. Mine just went and the whole dash decided to light up like a Christmas tree (following the battery light, but I don't recall any weird noises) and lastly power steering was lost as I pulled up to the tow truck.

[BCsniper]

I think there are a number or us with extra Delphi's sitting around.

I have a used one that works in my garage but I don't see any point in trying to sell it. Used Delphi's go for about half of what rebuilt ones do. Also the cost of a used alt is usually right at the same price of getting your bad one rebuilt, and since these are known not to be that reliable, I wouldn't suggest buying a used one unless its a Hitachi version.

[amoujaffar]

the results are in. i was right, it WAS a bad alternator. not necessarily bad but it isn't spinning right and is the source of the problem. thanks to the one from joeyc, i finally got my car back up and running perfectly again.