My Mercury is now really starting to get on my nerves. I've only just got a new job, finances aren't exactly what one would consider great and it has found the perfect time to start costing me money. My blower motor died last week, and after paying $100 for a new motor and a plug connector, now it looks like I have a charging issue.
Drove home this evening, and everything was normal. I parked the car, got out and noticed my left rear tire was parked over the garden hose. So I start her up to back up a little and noticed the battery light was on. The voltmeter "idiot gauge" also read lower than its supposed to - it's right where it sits during an ignition on/engine off condition. Thinking there could be something wrong, I killed the ignition and started the car up again. Same thing.
The alternator is question is a remanufactured Motorcraft 6G 130 amp unit, installed on June 28 last year at 139,425 miles (a month after I bought the car). The alternator before this one was whining, which was why it was replaced. Fast forward to today, 21,574 miles later, and the battery light has come on.
The unit showed no signs that it was going to fail. I check my alternator once a month with a voltmeter, and it has always read between 13.8-14 volts. The lowest it's ever read was 13.7 volts with pretty much all the accessories on - lights, rear defroster, air conditioning, radio and wipers. I even get my battery load tested every 6 months to make sure I'm not stranded in this jungle heat.
I haven't checked the alternator yet, and considering it's 115 F outside at 22:30, I'm not tempted to either...at least until tomorrow morning. A brand new unit is tempting, but the finances won't allow it at this very moment. So I'm going to have to go with another remanufactured Motorcraft for the time being.
What I'm confused about is why this alternator has failed so early. Called a colleague at work, who is a a tech, and he says the remanufactured units only last about a year "because of the heat". He told me the cut out feature is what always fails, and it happens suddenly. So is this a ritual, changing alternators out each year? What am I supposed to do, keep a spare alternator in the trunk?
Drove home this evening, and everything was normal. I parked the car, got out and noticed my left rear tire was parked over the garden hose. So I start her up to back up a little and noticed the battery light was on. The voltmeter "idiot gauge" also read lower than its supposed to - it's right where it sits during an ignition on/engine off condition. Thinking there could be something wrong, I killed the ignition and started the car up again. Same thing.
The alternator is question is a remanufactured Motorcraft 6G 130 amp unit, installed on June 28 last year at 139,425 miles (a month after I bought the car). The alternator before this one was whining, which was why it was replaced. Fast forward to today, 21,574 miles later, and the battery light has come on.
The unit showed no signs that it was going to fail. I check my alternator once a month with a voltmeter, and it has always read between 13.8-14 volts. The lowest it's ever read was 13.7 volts with pretty much all the accessories on - lights, rear defroster, air conditioning, radio and wipers. I even get my battery load tested every 6 months to make sure I'm not stranded in this jungle heat.
I haven't checked the alternator yet, and considering it's 115 F outside at 22:30, I'm not tempted to either...at least until tomorrow morning. A brand new unit is tempting, but the finances won't allow it at this very moment. So I'm going to have to go with another remanufactured Motorcraft for the time being.
What I'm confused about is why this alternator has failed so early. Called a colleague at work, who is a a tech, and he says the remanufactured units only last about a year "because of the heat". He told me the cut out feature is what always fails, and it happens suddenly. So is this a ritual, changing alternators out each year? What am I supposed to do, keep a spare alternator in the trunk?
