Found beater car....can't decide whether to buy

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Check all the fuses and grounds. I had a 97' Camry that last year I grounded the positive like an idiot while the battery was still hooked up. It popped the alternator fuse and it wasn't charging. Use a test light to ensure everything in the fuse box is getting power everywhere too.
 
Kinda sounds like the 'new' alternator took a dump already. The battery is primarily responsible for starting the car, and ideally, the alternator takes over voltage duties from there.
 
Update...I went and got it with the trailer today. I have 325 into it at this point. The mechanic at the shop said there was little tension on the belt and he thought the tensioner pulley was bad. Also mentioned how the aftermarket radio may be messing with the electrical if wired throught the cig lighter. I read the same thing on saturn fans.com
 
Once you get everything squared away, this little guy will be your favorite DD beater

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Originally Posted By: Alltherage
Update...I went and got it with the trailer today. I have 325 into it at this point. The mechanic at the shop said there was little tension on the belt and he thought the tensioner pulley was bad. Also mentioned how the aftermarket radio may be messing with the electrical if wired throught the cig lighter. I read the same thing on saturn fans.com


Very good point. The 90's Saturn fuse boxes weren't made for a large current draw similar to what you'd find in newer aftermarket radios. Supposedly, they won't even hold up to a phone charger. My 99' had a similar issue, but the power windows/locks, horn, a/c control weren't working, and the fuel pump wasn't kicking on either. Once I fixed the fuse box, most of the electrics came back to life.

http://thosbryant.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/saturn-fuse-box-1998-1999/
 
Originally Posted By: Fordtrucktexan
Originally Posted By: Alltherage
Update...I went and got it with the trailer today. I have 325 into it at this point. The mechanic at the shop said there was little tension on the belt and he thought the tensioner pulley was bad. Also mentioned how the aftermarket radio may be messing with the electrical if wired throught the cig lighter. I read the same thing on saturn fans.com


Very good point. The 90's Saturn fuse boxes weren't made for a large current draw similar to what you'd find in newer aftermarket radios. Supposedly, they won't even hold up to a phone charger. My 99' had a similar issue, but the power windows/locks, horn, a/c control weren't working, and the fuel pump wasn't kicking on either. Once I fixed the fuse box, most of the electrics came back to life.

http://thosbryant.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/saturn-fuse-box-1998-1999/


Also see if you can get an OEM Saturn belt tensioner, the Dayco ones from the parts house are absolute junk. I snapped the aluminum housing on one with my non-superhero strength just trying to install it.
 
Just tested some things. Put a charge on the battery for a few hours n got 12v on the multimeter. Started the car and it stayed at 12v. I'm assuming the alternator is shot. I've heard of cheap alternators being bad out of the box. What else can I test?
 
Check the connection on the alternator and the belt. You said the PO gave you the receipt for the alternator? Take it back to the parts store and get a new one.
 
May sound dumb but make sure the alternator is connected to the engine harness. Most Saturn alternator pigtails have broken clips by now and the 1.9l isn't the most vibration-free engine in existence, it's possible the connector came loose. The connection from the alternator to the starter is held on with 10mm nuts.
 
There's a fusible link between alt and starter. This is probably kablooey. You can make your own, it's only 10 ga wire, I know, crazy with 100 amps.

If the belt tensioner is junk but your alt is good, you'll get a battery light when it's running.

Not sure if the fusible link is kaput-- you'd have 14 volts at the alt stud, might be happy?
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I'm not following the logic.

100miles/day is over 36k/year. 100miles/day commuting, or just five days a week, is still 26k/year, or 24.5k/yr if you take 3 weeks off total.

I only notice because I commute 100miles/day and have a rough calculation/expectation of doing 22k/year for commuting. In years past I would still do 25-30k/year on this commute (weekend drives, etc).

One nice thing about having a beater: if the main vehicle goes down (repair, maintance or whatever) the beater can be pressed into service. If you have to have a vehicle always then nothing like redundancy.

But for like 15k/year and down, yeah I could see it being hard to justify a beater. Unless if the main vehicle is also near beater status.


Sorry guys...yes I meant 100 miles a week.
 
Took it around the block and ran fine it seems. It's starting fine too. The alternator isn't charging the battery though. Here are the other things I've noticed so far: cig lighter works, radio works even though I pulled the 7.5 amp fuse in the interior fuse panel on the far right side as you look at it, fuel gauge works, tach and speedo don't, door chime works, dome light works, wipers work, wiper fluid won't, one headlight pops up fully, other halfway, lights work and signals work, blower and heat works, ac seems to, horn works. Seems as though there isn't an infamous f5 issue.
 
The problem with saturns and radios is all radios get keyed and unkeyed power.

Saturn stock radios power the amps, and 98% of the load, through the keyed feed. The "memory" gets always-on.

Conversely, aftermarket radios feed the amps from the always-hot wire, through a relay run by the key. Saturn provides a measly tiny fuse for this and aftermarket wiring adapters dutifully connect things despite being underrated. The fix of course is to splice one wire off and send it to a decent sized +12V source.

Since the chime works, this is probably not it.

I still suspect the alternator's fusible link. Might be able to get in there with an alligator clip jumper wire you can jumper straight to the 10mm input nut atop the fusebox.
 
I forgot to mention that the belt is rather loose it seems. I read that there should be 1/2 inch of play. When I press on it I get 1" at least. The alternator is spinning though
 
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