Do I need a new alternator?

[SDG]

Well...the alternator is dead...AGAIN! I didn't drive the car yesterday at all...went to take it to autozone today and the check engine light had cleared...but the battery light kept coming on and going off. So the guy checked the battery at autozone and said it was fine then he pulled the neg terminal off and the car died. So the alternator is shot. I was able to get the car home then turned it off...wouldn't restart. cickcickcickcick. The ole' dead alternator click. I even tried jumping it just in case it was the battery...no dice.

I have alternator #2 pulled off..was able to remove it in about a half hour..MUCH faster the second time! So now I have to get a ride up to the store and have them exchange it. I will probably bring my battery up there and have them put it on a trickle charge too since I think its dead now. I wonder if running the battery down killed the alternator? I might see if I can get them to switch out my battery for a new one..hmm..wonder if they would?

Isn't this car so much fun?!

 

[magnumP5]

Reading things like this make me glad one of the first gauges I got was a voltmeter. While it isn't something you need to look at on a daily basis it sure helps diagnose electrical issues. One of these days I'll relocate it into the glovebox to make room for other gauges.

Unfortunately I have noticed that my gauge has been reading a little lower lately; perhaps around 13 or 13.5 volts as opposed to the usual 14+ volts. Looks like I might be doing this as well.

As for the second alternator being dead I've heard all sorts of horror stories about people getting dead alternators from stores like Advance Auto or O'Reily's. If mine is truly dead I'll likely go with a new, OEM one from Mazda. Pricey, but I know it will work.

 

[SDG]

Yeah I know I'm not the first one with this problem...I noticed several others on the forum has the same experience...replaced the alternator and it turned out to be bad. It worked for a week for me...so idk what caused it to die.

I know something must be up because once I got the new one in I had REALLY high idle when starting up the car and it wouldn't drop down to normal for about 5 minutes.

 

[SDG]

So I call autozone to make sure they have another alternator in stock and they are like oh well we have to bench test it...I was like as far as I know you cannot bench test the protege alternator off the car..they are like oh well we will anyway. Idiots.

They better not give me a hassle about exchanging it...I am not in the mood after having to take it out again last night.

 

[SDG]

OK so replaced the new one in about 15 minutes. Everything works fine now..no high rpm or battery light.

After doing this twice..I can say you dont need to remove the bracket that holds the alternator, nor do you need to go under the car at all. I didn't jack it up or anything. I can get the alternator in and out easily now after doing it..the key to getting it out is to run a rope (or a USB cable in my case since its all I had) through the hole on the alternator mounting brackets and yank that sucker up while you turn it till you find the way it needs to come out.

No way I would have figured it out without you guys on the forum..much thanks!

Now its on to fix the things I noticed while I was in there...I noticed I have a busted engine mount and my shocks are shot to hell. Gonna try and fix that stuff myself also.