woody189

I've got an 02 Protege5. My car has been making a weird noise and I had a little trouble starting up the last few days. It was a little sluggish starting up this morning, but when I drove it again int he evening, it started fine. AFter a little driving, the lights began to dim and it made a weird noise. Sort of like when you stick a playing card in bicycle spokes. My batter light came on, and I left my car out of fear of it not starting back up. I left it on for 20 mins while I fixed a flat, only to have it shut off the second I began to release the clutch. I had to have it towed.

Is it the alternator or something else? What should I do? I don't want to buy something only to have it not fix it. Any ideas? thanks.

kargoboy

It certainly could be alternator-related. That noise might have just been the belt either coming loose, or off altogether.
Less likely noise would be something inside the alternator itself, like the copper wire unraveling.

macdaddyslomo

sounds like an alternator to me....did you even look under the hood ??? could just be a broken belt

nicodeemus

like the guys said, check the belt first. If not the belt, take it to a parts store and they can check your whole charging system for you. Most places will do this for free.

woody189

I took it to the mechanic and he changed the alternator. I left it running for a few hours afterI picked it up but when i left it over night it was dead. I jumped it and it ran fine and started up a few hours later but then died again overnight. I had it tested and the battery was bad so I bought a new one.

I put the new battery in and the light was still on. I took it to the mechanic and he said now it was OVERcharging now. He didn't have time to fix so i brought it back today. In the morning the new battery was dead and wouldn't jump w/ another car. Mechanic gave me a portable jump pac thing and it started, but when I disconnected it turned the wipers on, made a loud noise, and my drviers side window stopped working.

I took it to him and he said there was a short circuit which was draining the battery and thats why the meter was reading it was overcharged. and now it should be fine because hte motor blew out so hopefully no more short circuit. Does this all make sense or is it possible he did something wrong?

If the batter doesn't die anymore, does that mean that I should just replace the window motor.

Thanks again

macdaddyslomo

a drain has absolutely nothing to do with overcharging...overcharging is either a bad regulator(part of the alternator), or a bad maf(the maf in a 1.6l also has the IAT sensor)..the maf tells the alternator how much charge to send the battery based on air temperature.

was the new alternator installed BRAND NEW or rebuilt ???

woody189

I'm assuming rebuilt. I didn't buy it, mechanic put it in. I can see he replaced it though cuz it's nice and shiny and also my car actually stays alive after a jump. I started it up after about 8 hrs of being off w/o problem. The battery light still comes on though and goes back off.

Let's assume he was wrong about the overcharging, does it make sense that the window would drain the battery. It seems like a reasonable idea to me, but what do i know.

But what I was thinking might be is that the alternator was overcharging and too much power went to my window and blew it out. Is that possible?

Da P-Funk!

Possible? yes.

Hard to tell. A good mechanic would put a meter across the battery to see if there was a drain after he installed the first alternator. I would not take it back to bubba again...

woody189

I only took it to bubba cuz it wouldn't move, even with a jump and he was around the corner.

Today he changed it again and put another alternator in. The light is gone for the 5 miles i drove and i'm hoping it'll stay that way. I gotta change the window motor now.

anyway, thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

macdaddyslomo

the rebuild was probably just rewound, and bench tested...no one bothered to check the voltage regulator, which is built into a protege's alternator...if the new alternator is BRAND NEW, then your problem should stay fixed....

Yes the window couldve caused a drain, but it wouldnt cause the overcharging too

woody189

I think it was the overcharging that messed up my window. Anyone know where I can get one? I looked online and they're about $100. I posted a request on junkyard dog so hopefully they got one somewhere. Is there any good site that I can get it used for cheap?

Da P-Funk!

uh, our regulator is integral with the ECU...

I do hope all is fixed now.

macdaddyslomo

not on a 1.6L there,big guy

just because I don't own one anymore, doesnt mean you can question the master !

Da P-Funk!

D'oh ><

My bad.