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Okay, so my alternator died and it has since been replaced. Again, my dealer did a great job. I love my dealer. However, I am left with some questions after having this happen. Stay with me here.
First, Sunday night I was washing the engine bay to clean it up after winter. Now, I normally don't believe in an aggressive engine washing. People claim you can use a power washer, but I don't think it is safe. So, I use a wet rag and some light hose water for rinsing. Really, very little water is used. This is the first time I have used rinse water on the engine and the alternator went dead the next day. Do you think the water could have caused the alternator to die? At first, I though the alternator showed no signs of dying (more on this in a moment).
Next, my dealer had considered not covering the alternator under warranty due to my aftermarket stereo system. He decided to cover it, but later asked me about the stereo. I said it is a lower power system and I don't use even 10% of the capacity, which is true. I have a headunit with 25 watts/channel which is not used. I have a 50x4 amp and a basslink with 200 watts. Overall, I keep it pretty quiet. However, I listen to the stereo daily for about 20 minutes with the engine off. Do you think any of this could have killed the alternator?
Finally, after the alternator was replaced, I noticed that a long standing problem had gone away. I had the idle stumble like so many others. From day one, the idle would sit at 650 RPMs, but would vary slightly. This caused a lope in the idle that always bothered me. With the new alternator, this has completely gone away. There is no sign of a unstable idle. It is as smooth as can be. Do you think my alternator was not functioning right from day one? Do you think a low charge could have affected the idle?
Let me know what your thoughts are. The alternator did die really, really, really early at 35,600 miles. Thankfully, it died right before the bumper-to-bumper warranty wore out.
First, Sunday night I was washing the engine bay to clean it up after winter. Now, I normally don't believe in an aggressive engine washing. People claim you can use a power washer, but I don't think it is safe. So, I use a wet rag and some light hose water for rinsing. Really, very little water is used. This is the first time I have used rinse water on the engine and the alternator went dead the next day. Do you think the water could have caused the alternator to die? At first, I though the alternator showed no signs of dying (more on this in a moment).
Next, my dealer had considered not covering the alternator under warranty due to my aftermarket stereo system. He decided to cover it, but later asked me about the stereo. I said it is a lower power system and I don't use even 10% of the capacity, which is true. I have a headunit with 25 watts/channel which is not used. I have a 50x4 amp and a basslink with 200 watts. Overall, I keep it pretty quiet. However, I listen to the stereo daily for about 20 minutes with the engine off. Do you think any of this could have killed the alternator?
Finally, after the alternator was replaced, I noticed that a long standing problem had gone away. I had the idle stumble like so many others. From day one, the idle would sit at 650 RPMs, but would vary slightly. This caused a lope in the idle that always bothered me. With the new alternator, this has completely gone away. There is no sign of a unstable idle. It is as smooth as can be. Do you think my alternator was not functioning right from day one? Do you think a low charge could have affected the idle?
Let me know what your thoughts are. The alternator did die really, really, really early at 35,600 miles. Thankfully, it died right before the bumper-to-bumper warranty wore out.
