Alternator problems AGAIN. Killing alternators?

[stingy goose]

Alright guys... when I bought my festiva the alternator wasn't charging the battery and when hooked up to a multimetre at the battery was reading between 4-20 volts.

I replaced it with one courtesy of M3NTAL hoping to fix the problem. And it did! After installing it I was getting a steady reading of 14.2 volts at my subwoofer amp (which before was at or below 12V)

Only problem, is today when I was driving, when I had the brake lights on and a turn signal, my head unit/deck would turn off then instantly turn back on... a sign of not having enough power. Later I was driving, now with the headlights on, and the problem persisted. While waiting for a friend at his house, I jumped out, and the amp was reading 10.5 volts, with all electronics off but the car still running!

I have no idea what is going on. I assume I should get my old alternator tested at a shop because for some reason I think it isn't the alternator but some wiring along the way. What really bugs me is that the new alternator was charging steadily and then BOOM it wasn't the next day.

Is my festiva an alternator killer??

[M3NTAL]

Check for blown fuses.

How is your ground from engine to chassis? Make sure the connection points are clean and tight.

Im thinking this is a grounding issue,

[FeistyFesti]

Check your head fusible link, my alternator was acting up and throwing a charge light on. I cleaned the fusible link male end and got some cartridge fuses and it fixed it once everything was dried.

[WmWatt]

I'd get the alternator tested before spending any money

[georgeb]

When one of my battery cables popped off of the battery while driving my radio shut on and off. No charge light! Check for open circuit between batt and ground, engine and body, + terminal and fuse panel, and alt and fuse panel.

[stingy goose]

When one of my battery cables popped off of the battery while driving my radio shut on and off. No charge light! Check for open circuit between batt and ground, engine and body, + terminal and fuse panel, and alt and fuse panel.

Yes that is one thing I forgot to mention. I'm not getting a charge light, and I wasn't getting one with the original alternator either.

[M3NTAL]

Check your battery cables. One of them might have corrosion or a break under the insulation.... Other than that I dont know what else it could be. You did put a battery in that has the same specs as an OEM one right? If not, your alt may be overworking itself trying to "charge" the battery you have in there when it's already good.

After a new alternator goes in, what is the voltage while running and while not running. Use a Multi-Meter not the reading from the car. The reason I ask about voltage when not running is if it were low that may indicate a heavy drain.

Your car has all stock pulleys correct?

[MAVRICK513]

Stingy Goose,
You may need a higher Amp Alternator if you have a somewhat high power stereo amplifier. Those take a lot of juice. I would bet it requires more amperage than your alternator puts out & it is draining the rest of what it needs from your battery. I think the Festiva alternator is only 40 or 50 amp. Many cars with aftermarket stereo equipment use 110 amp + alternators.

[nitrofarm]

Check your head fusible link, my alternator was acting up and throwing a charge light on. I cleaned the fusible link male end and got some cartridge fuses and it fixed it once everything was dried.

This is good advice I would do this before I did anything else. If you are running a "system". Its gonna exploit every weak link you have in your charging system.It sounds like you have a corroded conection thats intermitantly causing a lot of electrical resistance. The fuesable link power distribution block is a great place for this. Its the first thing that people should upgrade when installing "system" amps. If you wired in amps but just left this alone. You are asking for problems. Jus my 2 cents.Good luck

[anomoly40]

Also check the crank pulley. Mine was glazed over and let the belt slip. Also check to make sure the timing belt cover isn't rubbing on your water pump or any other pulleys.

[stingy goose]

This is good advice I would do this before I did anything else. If you are running a "system". Its gonna exploit every weak link you have in your charging system.It sounds like you have a corroded conection thats intermitantly causing a lot of electrical resistance. The fuesable link power distribution block is a great place for this. Its the first thing that people should upgrade when installing "system" amps. If you wired in amps but just left this alone. You are asking for problems. Jus my 2 cents.Good luck

I honestly have no idea what a fusable link is and a google search didn't turn up anything.

I'm going to soak the connectors for the battery in CLR and also the grounds to get off any corrosion. I'm only running one 10" woofer (450watt rms, the amp is 919 watt rms) to me that's not high power at all and I wouldn't think I need an upgrade of anything haha but that's just me.

Could someone explain what a fusable link is? Well I think I have a pretty good idea of what it does but I don't actually know what it is. Feels good to be 18 and stupid.

EDIT: when you said intermittently causing electrical resistance I think that's exactly what is happeneing. It wasn't charging at all last night, and when I got to my friend's place it read 10.5Volts. I drove to the skatepark without my headlights, just as a test, and with the engine on it read 12.6 Volts, and with it off it read 11.5, which is obviously more power than what I left with. I think the alternator is fine it's just a connection issue. I HOPE!!!

[anomoly40]

Do a search on here. Ff.com search beats google for parts for our car.

[georgeb]

It's where the smaller pos cable goes.

[anomoly40]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18954&highlight=fusiable+links

Post #7 is what you need.

[stingy goose]

alright guys.. when I get back from the university later today I'm going to clean all the grounds with CLR (I only found 2, not sure if that's all of them) and the other connections. I couldn't find any information on the stock battery so I just took a picture of the one I have in there right now from costco.
The closest thing to the description for the fusable link is pictured here. not sure if that's it.

sorry if the pictures are too big

EDIT: pictures are massive... suggestions for a better image hoster?