I have a 96 sohc, first the battery went, then we went through 3 alternators, doesnt seem right. Now I have a new battery, new alternator and belt. The battery light came on again, and once again the car is dead. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Have you looked at the battery cables? Chances are they are corroded. Replace them and the connections and make sure they are on there tight.

Also make sure you don't have any lights on in the interior that could be draining the battery slowly.

 

under the hood attached to the right side of your fuse box (assuming your facing the car while hood is poped) is a metalic like object with thick copper wires. ( mine are copper) mine where very loose and the entire thing needed to be replaced, Im not sure the name of the actual electrical part but you will know it when you see it. I once had problems similar to yours. infact my car would just shut down when it felt like it, in the middle of a turn, stopped in traffic etc.... hope some of that was helpfull and good luck !!

 

cylenoid maybe?

 

Well if you have the ignition off and no lights on, then it leads me to believe you have a short somewhere. Maybe your pcm is bad, or dying? Shorts are nasty bitches to trail though. Good luck.

 

Also when you attach your battery, well at least mine, see if it sparks alot or the slighest bit. Becuase when you put it on, it should arc maybe once or twice, but If it sounds like its carrying a load, then probaly a short. JMI

When my battery went out last time, the power wire on the alternator which is held on by a bolt is protected by a plastic grooment, well the wire came loose and melted the gromet. Little did i know what it was for at the time the gromet. So I tightend the wire straight to the alternator. Power right to the frame, not good.

Basically you could tell something was wrong when you tried to hook the battery up, it sparked and arcd alot more then normal.

 

When we put the new alternator on yesterday it started to smoke and whine, then we got another one which also smoked and whined. I checked the wires to the alternator as far as I could follow them but I didnt see any bare wires. Any ideas on where else I might find a short? It seems to me if the alternator keeps burning out then there would be a short somewhere in the charging system? Anyone know where I might start looking? Thanks for the input guys!

 

are you tightening the belt to much???
please say that you didnt get the alternator from auto zone....

check the wires goin to the starter.....i had an old neon that the power wire to the starter deteriorated until it broke in half.....took a long time and alot of money replacing stuff until we found out that wire was causing alot of problems.....

 

how much is too much when tightening a belt lol I tightened it so when i pushed on it it hardly moved. Is that too tight? Both alternators I had started smokeing right away, then turned black inside, while making a really loud whine, kinda sounded like a steering pump would when its empty. When you said check the wires to the starter do you mean from the alternator to the starter? Or from the solenoid to the starter?

 

I think the rule is about 1/4" movement on the belt. It needs to have some play, but not too much.