alternator knowledge needed

[bwr9300]

I took my rig out in some off road trails today. Drove through a lot of water. After the last water, the battery light came on. LC drove fine for rest of day, highway, around town, but the battery light stayed on. Tonight on way home I began losing power. Got home, turned it off, and it wouldn't turn on--no power. Charged the battery and it started up fine.... while on the battery gauge slowly drops.

Can water mess up the alternator?
Is there a chance whatever water there is, where it shouldn't be,
will dry up and this problem go away?
I've got 196k miles on it and dont have any records from PO, when
do alternaters usually go?
Do the battery lights come on for bad alternators or just bad
batteries?

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[Pin_Head]

Alternators are pretty tough and can tolerate getting wet, but it is possible that water might screw them up by either wearing out the brushes prematurely or by getting dirt or grit in between the brush and ring. Try hosing it out with fresh water and tap on the case with a hammer to see if you can get the brushes to seat. The brushes are the major moving part that wears substantially.

 

[bwr9300]

so when you say hose it out, I should pull the alternater off and hose it out? or leave it in there and hose from there?

 

[Pin_Head]

Do the easy things first. Just hose it out while it is running in place. It is already broke, so it isn't going to get more broken.

If you go to the trouble of removing it, replace it with a good one.

 

[FrankTorres]

You have mud in there.

If it were my alternator;
I would remove it. Open it up, and clean out the mud and check the wear on the brushes.
Mud is like sand paper on the copper slip rings, and once the slip rings go it would not be cost effective to rebuild.

hope that helps...

 

[PHIL O]

or the connectors are soaked in water. remove the connector and blow it with compressed air to dry it off

 

[bpassmore]

water took mine out.

 

[powderpig]

If you have the original alternator, I would order a set of brushes from your local dealer. The brushes are almost gone. With a bit of dirt in the water, the springs are not maintaining good contact with the commutator. It is a fun time removeing the alternator from the 1FZ engine bay. So I would only do it once. But it is your time and energy.
Dirt is likely holding the bushes from making contact.
With the alternator out, brushes take about 10-15 min to change out and clean up the commutator.

 

[bwr9300]

So, should I let it sit for a couple days and hope it dries out or is that a slim to none chance? Regarding hosing it, if others have lost alternators do to water, is spraying water in/towards the alternator going to cause more damage? There's mud on top of the alternator...

Powderpig, if you say its not fun removing the alternator with your experience working on these rigs, I wonder if I'll even be able to do it.

 

[bwr9300]

I hosed it out. Seems to have drained it more. Car won't start. Have to charge it a bunch. Any tips would be great!

 

[ERG80]

Hit it with a hammer. Mine was clogged with mud and a few good whacks got it spinning/charging again.

I hosed it out. Seems to have drained it more. Car won't start. Have to charge it a bunch. Any tips would be great!

 

[ERG80]

Powderpig, if you say its not fun removing the alternator with your experience working on these rigs, I wonder if I'll even be able to do it.

It isn't fun removing them but it isn't THAT hard. Just time consuming. The FSM tells you exactly what to do.

 

[bwr9300]

seriously hit it with a hammer? I guess you have to remove it to do that huh? sounds like its time for me to go in and remove the alternator. sprayed it, while still in place, earlier. let it sit with the hood open all day, even took the lady's hair dryer and let it sit blowing on it for awhile.

 

[OGBeno]

seriously hit it with a hammer? I guess you have to remove it to do that huh? sounds like its time for me to go in and remove the alternator. sprayed it, while still in place, earlier. let it sit with the hood open all day, even took the lady's hair dryer and let it sit blowing on it for awhile.

At this point, you need to pull it out and see what is damaged.

If this is the original unit, a brush replacement like Pin_Head and Robbie stated is definitely a good idea....or, a new reman unit would not be a bad idea either if you have toasted it.

 

[Pin_Head]

seriously hit it with a hammer? .

Seriously. You want to tap it enough so that the vibration seats the brushes. You don't want to crack the casting, unless you are so pi$$ed off at it that you need revenge.

It is already broke. Hosing the dirt out of it and tapping on it isn't going to make it more broke.

It is good to have experience with these kind of quick and dirty fixes as they can make the difference between getting home or not if it happens when you are out in the skinny boonies.

 

[OGBeno]

Seriously. You want to tap it enough so that the vibration seats the brushes. You don't want to crack the casting, unless you are so pi$$ed off at it that you need revenge.

It is already broke. Hosing the dirt out of it and tapping on it isn't going to make it more broke.

It is good to have experience with these kind of quick and dirty fixes as they can make the difference between getting home or not if it happens when you are out in the skinny boonies.

X2. Good advice here.

 

[bwr9300]

ok. thanks for all the help. so, I've been reading the FSM. Everything in there is accurate... removing the power steering resevoir, belts, battery and tray? if so, any tips from yall who've done this before?

 

[bwr9300]

best place to hit this once I get it out?

 

[Pin_Head]

You want to get it running first and then hose it out and tap on the end that holds the brushes while it is running. See if the batt light goes out and the charging voltage jumps up to 14.7V.

No point in doing this if you take it out. If you take it out, just rebuild it: Clean and test everything and put new brushes in it. It is not a difficult job to rebuild it compared to getting it out.

 

[bwr9300]

ok. glad you said something. I was about to go take the whole thing out. So tap it with a hammer while its still in the engine bay? I hosed it out earlier. Have not hit it with hammer though. So, Pinhead, you're saying leave it in there and get the rig running?