Well, firstly this is my first post here. Love the forum and haev found it very comforting that some of the more frustraiting issues I've had with my 1993 NA 2+2 are shared by others. Not sure what it is about these cars that keeps us from having them crushed and buying something a LOT more hastle free, but it's good to see I share the insanity with others.


That aside I have just had an experience that others may benifit from.

Over the last few months I had been having an odd problem with the electrical system. When I would start up the car after it had been sitting for any period of time over 6 hours or so the alternator light (battery light) would fade in....eventually leading to the brake warning light, teh burned out bulb indicator and the ABS warning light coming on...staying on a for a couple seconds and then shutting off. While the warning lights were visable the dash lights would be a bit dim and immediately after the warning lights turning off the dash would come back to full brightness and everything would be fine. I never had an issue with performance after teh lights returned to normal.

Now then, 6 weeks ago I took my "princess" in to the local Midas to have the electrical system checked, as it was still doing this mytery warning lamp trick. They checked everythingimaginable and could find nothing wrong. in the managers own words "If it isn't running differant, don't worry about it". He also suggested that the issue lay with a battery located behind the dash that kept the gadges calibrated while the car was shut off....riiiight.

Anyways, 2 days ago i found myself on the side of the road with a dead battery and an equally dead alternator. Battery behind the dash my ***! As it turns out the alternator (only 1 year old) had crapped out but the root cause was actually the power steering pump. It seems the pump had been leaking fluid which in turn had been dripping into the alternator. Being a petrolium based liquid it couldn't evaporate very fast or completely and was causing the alternator to short out slightly. After the alt had spun for a while enough of the liquid had been displaced for normal connectivity to resume.

So we're looking at - (liquid in alternator, dim lights, minor warning lamps) (liquid dissapates, normal charge resumes, lights return to normal). Of course this could only last so long and eventually the alternator died. unfortunately for me it decided to do it on the way home from work at 6:30 am on the south bound I-5.....at least the parts are being replaced now...the alternator for free but with labor included and the pump for 130 bucks plus labor...all told I'm probally going to be looking at a 700 dollar repair bill, which is about par for the course with this car every time something breaks.

I will however be keeping the old alternator and trying to sell it on eBay, I see no reason why someone couldn't clean it out and or just rebuild it.


Secondary question: I am now paranoid about anything getting in my alternator and am wondering what is the best methode for cleaning the engine and compartment? Simple green + a hose without running too much water into the electrics like a dumbass or what? Can I do it while the engine is running or should it be off and cold?


Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forums....... darn good write-up. Very easy to read and all. This alternator death appears to be a common problem with our cars. The precursor to the death, with the light problems, and hence the leaking fluid was well described. For the others, the clue would have been having to add power steering fluid.

Whenever I check the fluids on any of my cars, I always give the engine bay a real good lookover (is that a word?), looking for leaks, checking the belts and hoses and everything else. Alot of problems can be pre-empted. Hoses leak a little before they leak alot, and belts are ususally worn and cracked before they break. etc.

On the cleaning, there are varying opinions. I'm not a fan of regularly introducing water to all of those electrical components. Especially high pressure water. I live on a dirt road and rinse the engine bay off before performing any significant work. I use simple green, gunk, foamy engine brite, and gas regularly for localized cleaning. Like cleaning up after my power steering hose leak. You need to be careful with gunk and foamy engine brite as it can bleach out some plastics. No problems on Z plastics yet.

Again, welcome to Z insanity.

 

I too have this issue of a leaky power steering system. I own't be able to attend to it until after I go home for winter break, so I'll be taking off my power steering belt for the drive home. It won't leak as much that way. those prices for the work on your Z are amazing. Where are they being done? It's good to have you on the forum by the way.

 

LOL

Thanks for the warm welcome. I do try to make things easy to read, at least on forums that warrent it. I'll save my 'OMFG U R TEH STOOPID NOOB LOLOLO9LOLWTF" for the Blizzard forums. (I'm a world of warcraft player as well)

I didn't ever need to add power steering fluid as the leak wasn't THAT bad. I almost wish it had been as I could have possibly saved the alternator, but oh well.

By "amazing" I hope you mean "cheaper than I would have expected" Emo. lol I get my work done at my local Midas. I know I know...BLASPHEMY!!! But these guys are pretty good. At least the old crew was, the shop has recently gone a complete personel swap so the new crew is having to prove themselves to me. Something they are currently batting a .500 on...

Plus for this visit - They found the problem, fixed it, saved me as much money as they could and were knowledgable enough to know when the factory had sent the wrong part.

Negative for this visit - more than a fair amount of greasy hand prints on my hood and now my belts are slipping because thy didn't tighten them up enough.....which pisses me off more than anything because I am SO not in the mood to give my car back to them to tighten them up but on the same token know it'll be better to get it over with quick instead of having my belts get glazed or torn up.

Overall though I'm satisfied. Drove to work tonight and despite the initial horrific squealing that made my sports car sound like some mid 80's honda driven by welfare trash was able to step it out to 110 without slipping into passing gear. So, yeah...I'm happy...for now

 

There's nothing wrong with having a shop that you can trust to work on your car. Just whip them into shape on those greasy hand prints.

 

Like when the Chevy garage left oily foot prints on my floor mats and had oil dripping off the frame from the change, I raised so much hell they now give me free oil changes and I didn't even buy the truck from that dealership. I've had the truck 5 1/2 years and still get a no charge on the services.

 

hmmm i dunno if i'm gonna like this new guy. He's already starting off on the wrong foot here.

I too had the fluid drip into the Alternator causing electrical death scenario. Mine was oil not PS Fluid tho. Oh btw, did you mention to the shop that our cars take ATF instead of PS fluid? You might wanna remind them.

First time i bought tires for my Z, the Tech had left HUGE grease stains on the Drivers seat, shift **** and steering wheel. I marched right into that offfice and BITCHED up the manager. Needless to say, I've never bought tires from that place again.

 

Heh, I've been promised a full detailing at the local car wash after they tighten my belts this weekend. Sadly I will be foreced to drive my wife's Corolla for a couple more days. Ugh....

Can someone enlighten me as to the differance between the ATF and PS fluid and what happens if the wrong one is used?

 

If i remember correctly, ATF has a higher boiling point and doesn't break down as fast as PS fluid.

 

Ahh, to add closure to everything:

Carr is running great now, no issues. Steerign was a little stiff and jerky at first but I'm chalking that up to a **** poor bleed job that has worked itself out. The mechanic threw a hissy fit when I informed him he would need to flush my power sterring and replace the fluid with ATF, he informed me that the fluid would have saturated the system and by changing it now it wouldn't get 100% of the PS out. I informed him that was ok because they could go ahead and flush it again when I came in for the free oil change they would be providing me with to make amends for the huge black hand print on my passanger seat they managed to leave while fixing the belts. He didn't seem to like this proposal but couldn't deny the hand print, which cleaned up easy enough with a little bit of Spot Shot and elbow grease.

All in all, I WIN!

 

lol good job!