Alternator shot at 55k in '01 OBW

[John Rethorst]

The red light went on, and the dealer said I needed a new one. No headline here,
but I put about 200,000 miles on each of my two preceding cars without this. Is
it common for an alternator to go so soon?

IAC, the red light went on when I was 30 miles from home (and in Canada no
less). I drove home, worrying the while. Next morning, the car started right up
and I drove to the dealer's, on surface roads rather than freeway. My question:
am I a blooming idiot to drive 30 miles with the red light on?

 

[Rick Courtright]

it common for an alternator to go so soon?

Hi,

Alternators can go forever, or die quickly, with little apparent reason!
Those that I've had go "prematurely" succumbed to bad batteries or
moisture. If you've had a bad battery in the past, or went thru a big
enough puddle recently to splash water in the alternator (or, as I did,
bathed the engine w/o remembering to cover the alternator), that MIGHT
explain it. Might not...

Be sure to have that battery checked, too. Don't want to have 'em put in
a new alternator only to have it overwork itself right out of the box
charging a weak battery. Many of today's batteries don't like being
discharged very deeply--I don't know if your 30 miles plus a restart
were enough to hurt things. Best to check!

Rick