Close call. Napa alternator tried to burn up my car.
#1433777
05/09/13 11:20 PM
05/09/13 11:20 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,719
Space Station #5
471Magnum
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Space Station #5
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Been dealing with some charging issues that indicate I may have some AC leakage / bad diode on my 1 year old, 3 year warranty Napa alternator. Old alternator was charging well enoough, but causing the sensors on my data logger to flake out (read about it elsewhere in the forum).
To their credit, Napa was really cool about the warranty return. I didn't have the receipt, and they restarted the warranty from today for the replacement.
I got it home and installed it in about 10 minutes (I've gotten WAY too good at this), started the car with a fully charged battery, the alternator gauge shot over to the charge side. A voltage check at the battery indicated 16v volts. Yikes!
Pulled the green field wire and it continued to charge at 16V.
Swapped the field wires, turned the key to RUN and the gauge pegged out to full discharge. WHOA!
A check with my DMM shows at least one of the field terminals was shorted to the body of the alternator.
Nice.
Fortunately nothing burnt up. That situation very easily could have resulted in two cooked wire harnesses, or worse.
Note to self and others: check field terminals for shorts before installing alternators.
Last edited by 471Magnum; 05/10/13 10:41 AM.
-Jim
I can fix it... my old man is a television repairman.
He's got the ultimate set of tools... I can fix it.
Currently Mopar-less
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: 471Magnum]
#1433780
05/10/13 02:04 AM
05/10/13 02:04 AM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,501
Gainesville,FL
goldmember
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master
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Posts: 4,501
Gainesville,FL
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Quote:
Been dealing with some charging issues that indicate I may have some AC leakage / bad diode on my 1 year old, 3 year warranty Napa alternator. Old alternator was charging well enoough, but causing the sensors on my data logger to flake out (read about it elsewhere in the forum).
To their credit, Napa was really cool about the warranty return. I didn't have the receipt, and they restarted the warranty from today for the replacement.
I got it home and installed it in about 10 minutes (I've gotten WAY too good at this), started the car with a fully charged battery, the alternator gauge shot over to the charge side. A voltage check at the battery indicated 16v volts. Yikes!
Pulled the green field wire and it continued to charge at 16V.
Swapped the field wires, turned the key to RUN and the gauge pegged out to full discharge. WHOA!
A check with my DMM shows at least one of the field terminals was shorted to the body of the alternator.
Nice.
Fortunately nothing burnt up. That situation very easily could have resulted in two cooked wire harnesses, or worse.
Note to self and others: check field terminals for shorts before installing alternators.
That's good reading,but I thought the title was "NASA tried to burn up my car". LOL GREAT read. Hope you figure things out.
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: Andrewh]
#1433783
05/10/13 10:53 AM
05/10/13 10:53 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,719
Space Station #5
471Magnum
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Quote:
starters and alternators, I make them test before I take it home to use.
everytime, brand new or reman, they have to put it on the machine before I will take it.
more than once, I had a bad one out of the box.
Good advice. Don't think those in-store testers catch all failure modes though. They pretty much just check Output.
Last edited by 471Magnum; 05/10/13 10:55 AM.
-Jim
I can fix it... my old man is a television repairman.
He's got the ultimate set of tools... I can fix it.
Currently Mopar-less
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: Andrewh]
#1433785
05/10/13 02:41 PM
05/10/13 02:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,719
Space Station #5
471Magnum
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And believe or not, this Napa doesn't have a tester in the store.
Guess I can take it a couple of blocks up the road to Advance. :-P
-Jim
I can fix it... my old man is a television repairman.
He's got the ultimate set of tools... I can fix it.
Currently Mopar-less
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: Golden-Arm]
#1433788
05/10/13 08:51 PM
05/10/13 08:51 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 256
libby mt
lifted85
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 256
libby mt
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I don't go through napa any more  went through 5 different .alt's in about a year's time. the last 1 I had I installed an fired my truck up an it seized an turned in to a big ol magnet lol that was the last straw, went to carquest  as much as I aint a fan of them the .alt seem's to be working great 
drive fast, drive hard, DRIVE MOPAR
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: lifted85]
#1433789
05/11/13 04:07 PM
05/11/13 04:07 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,719
Space Station #5
471Magnum
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Got my replacement, replacement alternator today. Started the install and the adjuster (bottom) bolt hole stripped.  I'm not going to blame Napa for that. Fortunately I had the right size helicoil in the tool box. Quick fix and the rest of install was uneventful. Charges fine, but it still didn't fix my problem on the sensor (topic of another thread).
-Jim
I can fix it... my old man is a television repairman.
He's got the ultimate set of tools... I can fix it.
Currently Mopar-less
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: 471Magnum]
#1433790
05/11/13 10:21 PM
05/11/13 10:21 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 926
MICHIGAN
BB65Barracuda
super stock
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super stock
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Posts: 926
MICHIGAN
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Had an alternator from Orielys almost burnt down one of my cars. I contacted Corporate and they ran me around and had me give them an estimate of the repairs. I documented everything and sent it in. It was an obvious manufacturing issue that caused the short. You could see the shorted wires welded to the case. Long story short, once they had the alternator they denied my claim. Luckily I made a video of the issue before I removed the alternator. I sent that to them and told them I was going to post it on utube. They sent me a check to cover my time and repairs.   Morel of the story, they all sell crap anymore.
1957 Power wagon wm300 original 10.000 mile truck, 1964 dodge Polara Convertible numbers matching
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: BB65Barracuda]
#1433791
05/12/13 12:37 PM
05/12/13 12:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,482
Lake Orion, MI
goldduster318
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,482
Lake Orion, MI
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I've had more issues with the factory Mopar charging system than literally anything on the car. When I got the car, it had a bad alternator on it that had literally melted the dash harness and caused the headlights to not turn off.
Over the next 10 years (only 6-8k miles at most), I went through 3 alternators and 3 voltage regulators, including ones that were bad out of the box. I was actually using an original unrebuilt 80's alternator finally and that one actually seemed to work ok. Then, one of the field terminal connectors failed one night and it was putting out 18V, which fried my charging wire again while I drove it home for 10 miles.
I finally got sick of it and went to a 12SI Delco for a 1985 305 Firebird. Literally a $50, 78A alternator that is more reliable and you can easily fix yourself. It is fantastic, a rock solid 14.7V no matter what is on and no BS.
'70 Duster 470hp 340/T56 Magnum/8 3/4 3.23 Sure-Grip
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Re: Close call. Napa tried to burn up my car.
[Re: bigblock340power]
#1433793
05/13/13 12:29 AM
05/13/13 12:29 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,175
Not Gabba-NYC, That's For Sure...
dinty68RR
super stock
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super stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,175
Not Gabba-NYC, That's For Sure...
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Ditto - there's a guy here in Syosset, New York that has been rebuilding alternators for years - everyone I know that has used him for rebuilding/rebuilt alternators has had no problems... Glenn 67 Barracuda Convertible (PP1) 68 Road Runner (LL1, 70,000 Original Miles)
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