tstrike Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 Hi folks, In the last 5 months we have replaced two alternators on my 1995 Lexus LS400. The alternator shows no sign of Power Steering fluid leakage into it. We are scratching our heads on why the alternator continues to burn out. ideas?
SRK Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 The only way to tell is to diagnose the failures of the replacement alternators. You say they "burn out". What does that mean, how did you tell? I use a local automotive electrical shop to rebuild my starters and alternators, and they do excellent work on the unit I bring in. I NEVER use reman exchange units, and I never buy new from the dealer. Fix what you got. I suspect you are using reman?
tstrike Posted October 9, 2011 Author Posted October 9, 2011 The only way to tell is to diagnose the failures of the replacement alternators. You say they "burn out". What does that mean, how did you tell? I use a local automotive electrical shop to rebuild my starters and alternators, and they do excellent work on the unit I bring in. I NEVER use reman exchange units, and I never buy new from the dealer. Fix what you got. I suspect you are using reman? Let me call my Dad and I will post in about an hour what he said. Thanks for the assistance.
tstrike Posted October 9, 2011 Author Posted October 9, 2011 The only way to tell is to diagnose the failures of the replacement alternators. You say they "burn out". What does that mean, how did you tell? I use a local automotive electrical shop to rebuild my starters and alternators, and they do excellent work on the unit I bring in. I NEVER use reman exchange units, and I never buy new from the dealer. Fix what you got. I suspect you are using reman? Let me call my Dad and I will post in about an hour what he said. Thanks for the assistance. We took the alternator back to O'Reillys. They tested the alternator to learn that it was burnt out (by both testing and the smell of the alternator (electric smokey smell). Also my dad says there might be some fluid that seeped in. In the forums I hear a lot from 1995 LS400 owners about the common issue of PW Steering fluid or oil leaking in. Comments or suggestions?
SRK Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 The desk jockeys at O'Reilly's probably aren't qualified to sniff test an alternator. ATF doesn't "burn" out the alternator, it turns the brushes to mush, and it would take a lot to do that so quickly as in your case. So is the power steering fluid level dropping? Is there in fact oil on the bottom of the PS pump?
tstrike Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 The desk jockeys at O'Reilly's probably aren't qualified to sniff test an alternator. ATF doesn't "burn" out the alternator, it turns the brushes to mush, and it would take a lot to do that so quickly as in your case. So is the power steering fluid level dropping? Is there in fact oil on the bottom of the PS pump? We will need to check when the rain stops.
tstrike Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 The desk jockeys at O'Reilly's probably aren't qualified to sniff test an alternator. ATF doesn't "burn" out the alternator, it turns the brushes to mush, and it would take a lot to do that so quickly as in your case. So is the power steering fluid level dropping? Is there in fact oil on the bottom of the PS pump? We will need to check when the rain stops. We checked: there is indeed oil at the bottom of the power steering pump. Dad says he sees oil leak coming from the power steering pump (not ATF or Dextron). He said when he took the alternator into O'Reillys, the alternator gave off a burnt smell and the testing unit rejected the alternator (my Dad's words).
lenore Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 You know I had same problem on a Ford Ranger, ORielly (formally Kragens) has crap for rebuilds...I never, and I repeat never use them for rebuilds or remans for my vehicles....THe Ford Ranger story sucked, three alternators, covered by warranty, but the labor or removing and replacing all within three months...Went to Napa and put in their alternator, and it worked fine... However you did need to know whether you have a short somewhere....if not, maybe bad or poorly rebuilt parts.
tstrike Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 You know I had same problem on a Ford Ranger, ORielly (formally Kragens) has crap for rebuilds...I never, and I repeat never use them for rebuilds or remans for my vehicles....THe Ford Ranger story sucked, three alternators, covered by warranty, but the labor or removing and replacing all within three months...Went to Napa and put in their alternator, and it worked fine... However you did need to know whether you have a short somewhere....if not, maybe bad or poorly rebuilt parts. Well that is what we are trying to figure out. Is it a short or fluid getting into the alternator. Either are not good. :(
curiousB Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 The only way you can sort this out is to get a digital voltmeter and make battery measurements with engine off, engine running but everything electrical turned off and then engine running with everything electrical switched on. Report back those readings and we can go from there. The battery reading needs to be at the battery posts not somewhere else in the circuit (negative terminal to postive terminal). Until you start taking measurements we're all just sitting around guessing.
tstrike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Posted October 11, 2011 The only way you can sort this out is to get a digital voltmeter and make battery measurements with engine off, engine running but everything electrical turned off and then engine running with everything electrical switched on. Report back those readings and we can go from there. The battery reading needs to be at the battery posts not somewhere else in the circuit (negative terminal to postive terminal). Until you start taking measurements we're all just sitting around guessing. Ok will do. Thanks :)
DEATH Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 Why don't you quit fooling around and fix your p/s leak. I'm sure I've said it on here before and I've seen it countless times before; P/S fluid leaking on your alternator is a killer. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. I don't have any experience with aftermarket alternators so I can't speak for their reliability. I do know dealer OEM reman works flawlessly.
tstrike Posted October 11, 2011 Author Posted October 11, 2011 Why don't you quit fooling around and fix your p/s leak. I'm sure I've said it on here before and I've seen it countless times before; P/S fluid leaking on your alternator is a killer. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. I don't have any experience with aftermarket alternators so I can't speak for their reliability. I do know dealer OEM reman works flawlessly. Hi Death. You are correct indeed. We replaced the alternator this morning and now the car will not even start. We plan to proceed with the P/S fix first, but car not cranking is a worry. I wonder if there is indeed a short (oh boy, yikes). Thanks for your help and please provide any more hints or thoughts.
DEATH Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 Why don't you quit fooling around and fix your p/s leak. I'm sure I've said it on here before and I've seen it countless times before; P/S fluid leaking on your alternator is a killer. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. I don't have any experience with aftermarket alternators so I can't speak for their reliability. I do know dealer OEM reman works flawlessly. Hi Death. You are correct indeed. We replaced the alternator this morning and now the car will not even start. We plan to proceed with the P/S fix first, but car not cranking is a worry. I wonder if there is indeed a short (oh boy, yikes). Thanks for your help and please provide any more hints or thoughts. Without seeing it I can only imagine that your battery is dead by now. A starter failure(unrelated to charging system concern) is not beyond the realm of possibility. Recharge/replace your battery, fix your p/s leak and alternator, and you should be good to go.
stephon123 Posted October 20, 2011 Posted October 20, 2011 Why don't you quit fooling around and fix your p/s leak. I'm sure I've said it on here before and I've seen it countless times before; P/S fluid leaking on your alternator is a killer. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. I don't have any experience with aftermarket alternators so I can't speak for their reliability. I do know dealer OEM reman works flawlessly. Hi Death. You are correct indeed. We replaced the alternator this morning and now the car will not even start. We plan to proceed with the P/S fix first, but car not cranking is a worry. I wonder if there is indeed a short (oh boy, yikes). Thanks for your help and please provide any more hints or thoughts. Without seeing it I can only imagine that your battery is dead by now. A starter failure(unrelated to charging system concern) is not beyond the realm of possibility. Recharge/replace your battery, fix your p/s leak and alternator, and you should be good to go. I agree with you, the problem is in the battery
jaswood Posted October 20, 2011 Posted October 20, 2011 Why don't you quit fooling around and fix your p/s leak. I'm sure I've said it on here before and I've seen it countless times before; P/S fluid leaking on your alternator is a killer. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about. I don't have any experience with aftermarket alternators so I can't speak for their reliability. I do know dealer OEM reman works flawlessly. First, "DEATH", makes it quite obvious that I don't know what I'm talking about. BUT. IMMHO the leaking PS fluid has absolutely NOTHING to do with alternator failures. And then DEATH goes on to recommend (St,d)ealer OEM reman...??? Obviously it will depend more on who does the reman(***) and that will NOT be the Stealer. *** Same source as NAPA, etc.
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