Electrical Issues
 

Hmmm... I've not posted for a long time (things have been going swimmingly),

Until now:

Today Shelby (who got her license earlier this month), took her car to Safeway, after driving it around on and off all day. She called me to tell me it wouldn't start, she said it clicked, so I figured it was the batter terminal come disconnected (it had the day before I tightened it down and it had seemed fine). I get there and can't figure out whats wrong with it until I reach down to check fuses and discover the footwell lights are on REALLY dim. So I jump the car and it runs fine, but I smell hot somewhere. I look at the mirror and its smoking from out behind (the mirror adjust switches were in their normal positions ie off) so we disconnect the cables and I shut off the engine. I pull the mirror apart, confirm it was in fact the motor that was smoking, it was. I disconnect the motor, and the car still won't start. I rejump it, let it charge. Trying to drive off about 10 minutes later I put the brakes on and the car died, another jump. I'm beggining to see a pattern, the battery is not charging (or it seems) the charge or battery light is NOT on, and the car tries to die under electrical load. Can anyone help me? I appreciate it guys, I think, when I get paid I'll buy a premium membership, just cause I've gotten so much out of this forum. Thanks again in advance.
Ezra

alternator went bye bye.

God (Rizz), thank you. You're a good guy to ask this: How would I go about donating? Any chance it could be the voltage regulator (I have a feeling its part of the alternator on a car).

thanks

EDIT: and what the heck would cause the mirror motor to run and short when the switch was in the off position?

ummm almost all cars now are internal voltage regulators so youd have to know how to dissasemble an alternator, ALSO, in many many cases the voltage regulator appears to be more expensive than just the alternator itself. lol, doesnt make sense but its true, might have to do with the core charge setup.

That'd be fine, plus we have some crazy electrical people that disassemble alternators for our boat, in town, I'm gonnah talk to them first. Thanks snow.

well, you never know, there is a place that can test teh alternator while its still in the car cant remember which place though so you might want to try that first, and then you dont know for sure if it is the voltage regulator so your better off just replacing the whole thing

silverhand was the one that handled the subscriptions.

as far as to why the mirror would fry, obviously bad wiring.
Same reason why most electrical components go bad.

don't bother rebuilding the alternator. Go to AutoZone and buy a new one... they come with a lifetime warranty, so if the new one ever dies (and they do die with age) you can replace it for free. Free replacements under warranty FTW.