Bad alternator?

I went 4wheeling this last saturday and got the jeep really muddy, didn't really think much of it cuz it drove fine on the way home and for a day or so after that, but it had been taking a little longer to start. But today on my way home from school my cd player started flicking on and off and i noticed that my battery gauge read almost nothing, it was at the bottom. The jeep started running really sluggishly and i finally got it to my gf's house. I popped the hood and yes there was mud everywhere so i just assumed i ruined the alternator from the mud, he jump started me and started to follow me home to make sure it didn't die and to jump me if it did. Well on the way over there i start to lose almost all my power and i hear this nasty clanging sound every once in awhile, like i was my transmission or something, so finally i can't go anymore and pull over. We then just towed it back to my house. Now im almost positive its a bad alternator and im going to replace that tomorrow, but i can't figure out what that noise was...any ideas? oh ya, one other thing, i lost all power in drive but it seemed to drive in resverse just fine...

the noise was prolly the cluthes in the alternator seizing up or somethin. Did this teach u a lesson? stock splash guard? skid plate? lol.

is that a posi trac alternator? clutches? ummmm.. i'm shocked truly shocked. but anyway i guess you may have gotten mud in between the alt. and the charging connection at the alt. but it probably needs an alternator.

posi trac? na. Ive heard of the slip rings being refered to as "clutches" mounted to the shaft. Rarely siezing causing the south and north poles to never mesh. my bad.

alright thanks a lot guys, im gonna try and pull the alternator tomorrow and have checker/autozone test it for me to make sure its a gonner, then replace it. Hopefully that fixes my problem.

You can hope that since your alternator wasn't charging, the fuel injection and ignition systems, which depend on a pretty steady voltage, started to act up and that's what made the noise. The transmission is also electronically controlled, so it probably also misbehaved. A jump start from a low or nearly dead battery wouldn't keep things up for long.

I've never heard of slip rings being called clutches, since they're not, but who knows what people call things? The slip rings do not themselves slip. The brushes slip on them (Their surface is smooth, as opposed to an armature, on which the brushes cross from section to section).

Well i took out the old alternator today and had it tested at checker, sure enough it was shot, so i bought a new one. Just went to install it and broke off the bottom right bolt that holds the alternator in, its stuck up in there no easy way to get it out. So we decided to turn it on and see how it went and the alternator seems to be holding fine in there with the other bolts holding it on, so im not even sure we have to go to the trouble trying to replace that bolt...any suggestions? Also, the belt is very loose now, not near as tight as it was before, and the only bolts we loosened were the bolts on the alternator....any ideas how to tigten up the belt? cuz when we turn it on now it squeeks like no other ccuz the tension isn't tight enough....Once i get the belt tight i think it will be fine without that bolt thoughh....please help

atfrith said:

Well i took out the old alternator today and had it tested at checker, sure enough it was shot, so i bought a new one. Just went to install it and broke off the bottom right bolt that holds the alternator in, its stuck up in there no easy way to get it out. So we decided to turn it on and see how it went and the alternator seems to be holding fine in there with the other bolts holding it on, so im not even sure we have to go to the trouble trying to replace that bolt...any suggestions? Also, the belt is very loose now, not near as tight as it was before, and the only bolts we loosened were the bolts on the alternator....any ideas how to tigten up the belt? cuz when we turn it on now it squeeks like no other ccuz the tension isn't tight enough....Once i get the belt tight i think it will be fine without that bolt thoughh....please help

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I'm afraid you're really going to have to replace that bolt. The belt is supposed to be tensioned by the power steering pump. The proper tension is very tight, tight enough that any loose or misaligned component will spoil it. If it's too loose not only will you have charging problems, but the power steering can let you down in an emergency maneuver. You can't get the alternator aligned tightly and pointing the right way without all the bolts. Sucks to have to deal with inaccessible bolts, but you'll never get it right until you do.

Well we figured out how to tighen the belt by the tensioner on the power steering pump, and the belt is still nice and tight and the alternator hasn't budged a bit even with that bolt being gone. I've been driving it around all afternoon after doing the install just to make sure, and so far it seems like it will hold just fine, i have no experience tapping out a bolt or anything so if it keeps holding i think/hope it'll be fine..

I wish you luck with it, but I suggest that you pay attention to Matthew's advice. Keep in mind that automotive designers/engineers work hard to save every penny they can -- they very definitely would NOT design in a bolt that could be done without.