Oiled up alternator

[Kindred]

Just lost my cam seal today, so my head's spewing oil everywhere. I'm going to have to feed the car oil for a few days until I can get some spare time to work on the thing (just started an exercise). In the meantime, I was coming home tonight and as I was going over a speed bump, my alternator light flicked on for just a fraction of a second. What I'm wondering is if all of this oil will ruin that alternator. I haven't put the timing cover back on since my head gasket job, so the oil's literally going EVERYWHERE. On my hood, through my grill, even a little on the passenger headlight. Should I look into getting a new alternator once I reseat the seal, or is there some way I can keep it from being destroyed?

[nattyphysicist]

Look at your alternator to see what the situation is, but also look at your alternator belt. I had a charging problem awhile ago that I tracked down to an oil leak from my oil pan plug seal. Oil was coating the belt and causing it to slip on the alternator pulley. After I cleaned everything up, I had proper charge again and I also had a few extra horses.

Nat

[Kindred]

So oil *in* the alternator won't hurt the thing? I took a look today, and the problem isn't the cam pulley. It's got to be the crank seal or head (again). I'm spending a few minutes every couple of days to degrease the whole bay, which should help prevent damage in the meantime.

[Gro Harlem]

Oil all over teh alternator will kill it fast. I destroyed my MX-3's one b/c my valve cover was leaking oil and it COATED the alternator to holy hell.

Address the leak quickly & remove the alternator & scrub it down with some carb cleaner to clear off the oil & dirty crap. Hopefully no damage has been done yet.

[Kindred]

I'm using a pressure washer to degrease my bay. With 5 minutes to hit that tiny compartment, I shouldn't have too much trouble keeping the alternator clean.