Bad Alternator, did I cause it?

[Burkeomatic]

Ok, my alternator is bad. Driving home from lunch after church today, I got an alternator fault battery not charging alert, then my car started freaking out, gave me steering system fault, spoiler fault, transmission fault while I was sitting at a light where I had to put it back in park and into drive again.

So I figured I would have enough juice to get home (and luckily I did).

I went to pull codes, and it said it would turn the car off soon in KOEO configuration, I had popped the hood to see if the belt had popped off (it hadn't and why should it) and as I was running VCDS, I noticed a smell, saw some smoke from that area, and immediately turned the car off, hence the abbreviated scan.

My car is a 2013 with 93k miles, was it just time? Or did something I (or someone else did) cause it. Could all of this be one huge coincidence?

These are the things that have been done to the car in the past couple of weeks.

Me:

I installed laser jammers (and by extension, I had to undo that little fuse box under the ECU and run the wires through the firewall). Is there any chance I could have nicked something while I did that? To add to that story, when I was trying to fish the wires through, I pulled the grommit through into the car, and I cut the grommit off and reinstalled it from the outside with all of the wires through the middle as far as I could tell. I don't think I snagged anything, but I cant be 100% sure. I put the jammers in yesterday I had from something else. They are wired up fine and wired on the same fuse as my radar detector, I would think if there were any issues in the wiring, it would have been isolated to that system.

I also installed JHM downpipes and futzed around under the car. I remember seeing some red wires down there, but I don't think I hurt anything, but I could have.

An Indy Shop:

These people had left several under the car panels off or unfastened, so I doubt the work a little.

They replaced the motor mounts, and also the cat pipes. I don't know what all they did or didn't do, my car was in the shop for a while.

Here a list of codes I was able to retrieve is attached. Sorry it won't let me load it up on here.



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ttQ...ew?usp=sharing

I was thinking along the lines of if a wire got snagged, if it were causing a ground fault in the charging system, it could have placed an undue current draw on the alternator and led to an expedited demise. Also, it could be just a huge coincidence. It is probably close to the end of the road for my battery too, as far as I know it had never been changed.

I will be ordering an alternator, because that is obviously bad.... what else should I be working for?

What exactly is in that fusebox below the ECU anyways. I saw red wires bolted down, wisdom told me not to touch those to anything as they were probably hot wires, so I was careful there. Anyone know where I could get a wiring diagram while we are at it?

I think this is my first alternator failure.... weird huh.

Even my ridiculous 350whp miata I had for 17 years still had the OE alternator on it.... yep it was right at 25 years old and had 260k miles on it when I parted the car out. Went through 3 engines and 5 transmissions and still on the factory alternator.

[Burkeomatic]

Oh, what is the difference between the hitatchi alternator and the valeo one.

[WatchMeSpend]

In my C6 when the alternator went, it gave a whole bunch of unrelated warnings (ABS, TPMS, steering etc.) and threw the car into neutral. I could restart the car and drive it a bit before it put the car into neutral again. It died on an offramp to the busiest mall on Dec 24th. The car had a stereo and was on it's second battery. I replaced the battery and realized that when I started the car, the voltage went down, not up. Sent it to the indy who said my belt broke. He put a belt on it and it ran fine. Then they heard a loud squealing noise and found out when the alternator got hot, it seized up. Mine was a liquid cooled Hitachi. I'm pretty sure the C7 isn't the same and we should all be thankful because the price of the alternator and install is insane for a 4.2 C6.

My car had the same mileage as yours and made it 10 years on the alternator. Mine let go inside. I don't know if the coolant lines got blocked or what. Changed the alternator, cleared the codes and everything was good.

[Burkeomatic]

In my C6 when the alternator went, it gave a whole bunch of unrelated warnings (ABS, TPMS, steering etc.) and threw the car into neutral. I could restart the car and drive it a bit before it put the car into neutral again. It died on an offramp to the busiest mall on Dec 24th. The car had a stereo and was on it's second battery. I replaced the battery and realized that when I started the car, the voltage went down, not up. Sent it to the indy who said my belt broke. He put a belt on it and it ran fine. Then they heard a loud squealing noise and found out when the alternator got hot, it seized up. Mine was a liquid cooled Hitachi. I'm pretty sure the C7 isn't the same and we should all be thankful because the price of the alternator and install is insane for a 4.2 C6.

My car had the same mileage as yours and made it 10 years on the alternator. Mine let go inside. I don't know if the coolant lines got blocked or what. Changed the alternator, cleared the codes and everything was good.

Ha thanks! Hopefully it was just a coincidence. We are going to the beach for a week tomorrow, so I guess we won't be taking my car... lol I actually think one of your threads is one I read. Not sure why there isn't much info on alternators going.

I ordered the one FCP Euro listed along with a new belt. I 100% know the alternator is bad, I mean why else would it smell like burnt electronics and smoke. I'll probably unhook the battery when we leave as not to let anything drain on it in it's low state, and trickle charge it when I get back, hopefully I can get a little more life out of that. I've probably spent $3k on my car in the last month. I know a lot of that was semi-optional, but still, it sucks. I am assuming the water pump and thermostat aren't that far behind, I may as well order the parts and finish porting my blower to do that preventatively along with a carbon cleaning and PCV.

[Burkeomatic]

Well, a little piece of mind at least, I know it was nothing I did yesterday, because apparently this has been going on since at least Friday.

6389 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heater Circuit: B1 S1
P1196 00 [096] - Electrical Malfunction
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 150947 km
Date: 2023.06.02
Time: 10:08:56

Engine RPM: 1537.00 /min
Normed load value: 40.8 %
Vehicle speed: 100 km/h
Coolant temperature: 94 °C
Intake air temperature: 33 °C
Ambient air pressure: 970 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 10.968 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Engine speed: actual: 1536 /min
MAF_ENVD: 457.55293 mg/stroke
Coolant temperature (unfiltered): 94.50 °C
Engine: operating status: PL
T_AST_ENVD: 385.50 s
STATE_LS_ENVD[1]: 2

[WatchMeSpend]

I've probably spent $3k on my car in the last month. I know a lot of that was semi-optional, but still, it sucks.

The C6 4.2 alternator at the dealer was $2400 in the box, plus it needed a coolant line kit and then you had to pull the front of the car off. While we were in there there was a temp sensor that didn't work in the winter that threw an CEL, but in the summer it would go away. We had skipped it because of the cost to pull the front off the car, but now that it is off, add $345 on the bill. Then I had my oil changed and something else. Anyway that was a $4200 trip with taxes. I loved that car. S-Line with tech package and sports buckets that I have only ever seen in one other car plus a 4.2 V8. But the C7.5 i have kills it and the alternator is cheaper...

[Burkeomatic]

The C6 4.2 alternator at the dealer was $2400 in the box, plus it needed a coolant line kit and then you had to pull the front of the car off. While we were in there there was a temp sensor that didn't work in the winter that threw an CEL, but in the summer it would go away. We had skipped it because of the cost to pull the front off the car, but now that it is off, add $345 on the bill. Then I had my oil changed and something else. Anyway that was a $4200 trip with taxes. I loved that car. S-Line with tech package and sports buckets that I have only ever seen in one other car plus a 4.2 V8. But the C7.5 i have kills it and the alternator is cheaper...

Yeah, I understand. Gotta pay to play with these cars. I was able to get the alternator and belt from FCP euro for $600. I think I'll grab some new tensioners from somewhere inexpensive too.

Ironically, I was just thinking the other day "I think I have all of the common failure preventative maintenance done." I have good motor mounts, control arms, the car is decatted and it has the updated timing chains. I suppose after this and the carbon cleaning/waterpump/thermostat/PCV service I should be able to enjoy it for a few years before anything major. As long as I don't need to lift the engine, I don't mind doing the work. There isn't anything that takes longer than an evening after work or a saturday to do outside of those things.

I had a duramax before this, and for all of the "American vehicles are cheap and easy to work on" stuff I heard, that truck was a massive pain in my ass. You had to take the whole front of the engine off to change the water pump, it was a 8 hour job. I was always doing suspension work on it plus annoying things like the u joints and stuff, I mean the motor was great and transmission was great and having a truck that ran a 13 flat in the quarter and 0-60 in 5 seconds was fun. Parts weren't cheap either. I don't think they were Audi tax high, but not cheap. My miata spoiled me. I could swap the engine on that thing in like 8 hours and do a clutch or swap the transmission in about 4.

[ericw.]

All those warnings you get are normal when you have low battery voltage.

[Burkeomatic]

Umm, is there only supposed to be one wire going to the alternator other than the main wire? Mine looks janky AF, it is a black wire with a red butt clip leading to a white wire.

Oh, and the main wire is good n seized on. Fun times.

My battery is at autozone getting checked out. It was at 11.6v when I took it in, so hopefully not too bad if it were just dropping to 10.6-10.9 with the entire car running on it.

On a side note, I am pretty livid with the shop that worked on my car, my under panel that needed removed was just held on by 2 of the 4 m8 bolts, with literally none of the other stuff holding it on, allowing my fender lines to impact my tires. I know they rushed the car out, but geez, they could have just given me the hardware they didn't install.

I need to buy new bolts and stuff for the under panels (I'm not even going to go through it with the shop, not worth it) and also the little front lower inner fenders. Any idea on where to get those? I'm not an OCD person except when it comes to stuff like this.

[Burkeomatic]

Is there supposed to be some insulator over the hot wire? Because it was melted. I think I want to see if I cant aqcuire something.



Also, I don't know what in the fudge happened, but it appears that a new pigtail clamped on there. Nice.

It appeared that there was some sort of arcing going on back there. Also, the little nut that screwed on the back to hold the main wire on didn't appear to be screwed on all the way. But it took the force of God to remove. You can see where the threads got damaged by the arcing.... almost welded together.



I don't know what else to do but try to make everything right and hope for the best.

[Burkeomatic]

Here is another shot of the old alternator.

[Burkeomatic]

Great, I gave that alternator signal wire the ole tug test and a light little tug popped it straight off. Not at the butt connector but straight out of the back of the pigtail. I have tried to no avail to get that little pin re-opened. So I will have to hopefully see if a audi or VW dealership has that little plug. Bet it is going to cost way more than I want to pay..... but I gotta.

You can also see where the nut holding the power cable on got arc welded a little bit.

[WatchMeSpend]

It looks as if you aren't the first person to play around there. Maybe someone removed the alternator to get at something else. I don't like the pink splice. I did a speed density to mass air conversion of a Mustang and the pigtail for the mass air came with heat shrink with glue in it. I also happen to work on coaxial power networks and the heatshrink has glue in that too so that the wire is sealed from the elements.

The last careless a-holes that worked on my A4, rushed my car out after replacing the oil return line on the turbo. I told them that when I got the car back, I noticed an oil leak. They got all defensive saying it was an old car. I told them I don't care, your guy should have noticed the leak, no matter when or how it happened and told me instead of letting me drive off. He was working right by it. Coincidentally there was an oil drip shaped like an "L" where they parked it, but not where I left it. I saw the "L" was following me wherever I parked. They "gave me a deal" and charged me cost only on the part. The garage door broke after my car was in and they had a delay in servicing the other cars, so they rushed me out once it was fixed. They did not zip tie a bundle of wires back up and it had a fight with my fan that my fan won. Now I had no AC. I didn't go back to them to fix it. They also like to lean on your car. I don't even lean on my car. The last person to lean on my car after I said don't touch it hasn't heard from me since 2018 and isn't allowed on the property.

[Burkeomatic]

It looks as if you aren't the first person to play around there. Maybe someone removed the alternator to get at something else. I don't like the pink splice. I did a speed density to mass air conversion of a Mustang and the pigtail for the mass air came with heat shrink with glue in it. I also happen to work on coaxial power networks and the heatshrink has glue in that too so that the wire is sealed from the elements.

The last careless a-holes that worked on my A4, rushed my car out after replacing the oil return line on the turbo. I told them that when I got the car back, I noticed an oil leak. They got all defensive saying it was an old car. I told them I don't care, your guy should have noticed the leak, no matter when or how it happened and told me instead of letting me drive off. He was working right by it. Coincidentally there was an oil drip shaped like an "L" where they parked it, but not where I left it. I saw the "L" was following me wherever I parked. They "gave me a deal" and charged me cost only on the part. The garage door broke after my car was in and they had a delay in servicing the other cars, so they rushed me out once it was fixed. They did not zip tie a bundle of wires back up and it had a fight with my fan that my fan won. Now I had no AC. I didn't go back to them to fix it. They also like to lean on your car. I don't even lean on my car. The last person to lean on my car after I said don't touch it hasn't heard from me since 2018 and isn't allowed on the property.

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN LEAN ON SHIT THAT ISN'T THEIRS!

I don't like those butt connectors either. I am going to at least put some sort of glue or heatshrink on it. All I need is the little connector that goes in the back of the alternator.... hopefully one of or dealerships has one.

[Alabama]

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN LEAN ON SHIT THAT ISN'T THEIRS!

I've heard tell that years ago Mazda employed at least one considerate mechanic.

[Burkeomatic]

I've heard tell that years ago Mazda employed at least one considerate mechanic.

Unless you drove a RX-8, then I promise your car was at the rev limiter if I drove it, but it is good for them, right?

For real though, I was at a meeting of people who participated in what some would consider illicit contests of speed. I was grabbing an ocean water and hitting on the carhop at sonic, and I look back at my car and I watched as this 350lb dude I had no idea who it was parked his big butt on the rear quarter panel of my miata, the poor little car squatted down and everything. When I flipped out on him he looked at me like I had 3 heads. That car had a wavy rear quarter panel from that until I got rid of it. Bastard.

Oh well, I couldn't get that little connector from Audi today, but they did have a wire with a pin on each side.... for $35. Whatever, I paid the right now tax. I used weather proof crimp connectors and then put another layer of heatshrink on it for good measure.


That still didn't take care of the alternator wire insulator boot thingy that melted. I want to finish the car this weekend. I had tried a sparkplug boot but that ripped when I tried it.

So I spent what part of the day I wasn't at my daughters soccer tournament trying to hunt something down, as the ones I ordered off amazon were too big. Then it occurred to me, I used situations like this to justify spending $500 on a 3D printer.

So I designed this.



I'll print it out of ABS, 100% infill.

The ABS I am using isn't the greatest, but it will do. Melting point of 450 degrees F and a viscat softening temp of 210 degrees (I bought this form futura recycled stuff because it was supposed to be amazing, but it doesn't print thin wall worth a damn). I don't know what sort of temps the alternator sees back there, I have no doubt it might get a little spongy, but I doubt it will melt or deform in any appreciable way, it isn't PLA. If it works, I'll post it up to thingiverse and share the link. Nylon would probably be better to print out of, but I don't have any.

This is night 2 of my car sitting infront of my house unlocked so the riff raff can pillage through it. Probably oughta take my dashcam out.

[Burkeomatic]

Here is the thingiverse link for the alternator cap.

It snaps on to the wire nicely and is secured with a single zip tie. Hopefully it will provide adequate insulation and not melt. I'll take a peak at it whenever I change the oil. I have a "real" one on the way here for if/when that one fails.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6074158

In fairness, I'm not even sure if there is supposed to be one there, I just assumed there was and someone f'ed something up, which given the circumstances makes sense. I can't find a part number or a diagram showing one. Maybe it was fine without one.... well, it has one now.

[Burkeomatic]

We're up and running. Holding 14.1v at the terminals under the hood and the battery terminals.

The Lowe's #10 trim panel screws will work in most places those wide head torx screws go. And the m8x1.25 work to hold that bottom tray on (I need a M8 speed nut for one side) and I at least got it to where my wheel lines aren't flapping around anymore. I am surprised that bottom panel (the one you take off when you change the oil) was holding in there. Literally it was just those two 8mm triple squares in the back holding it in.

There are some pretty sizeable gashes in my inner fender liners, and the shop had also broken those headlight cover bezels, so I think I need to order those if they arent too expensive. If they are I'll rig something up.

[Burkeomatic]

Just so you all know, that alternator terminal cap I printed was in perfect shape about a month ago.

I was expecting some warpage around the bottom, but there wasn't in the least bit. Rereading this, I see I used the filament I despise too.

I find that to be very impressive considering it's close proximity to the exhaust manifold. I'd expect it to last quite a long time. Not bad for $0.10 of material.