Weird stuff is happening to my car.

[ryanprins13]

This is on a 1993 stock festiva with 430,000km.
So yesterday i was driving home from work doing 110km/hr on a freeway and all of a sudden my speedometer went straight down to zero. I thought my cable had broken or the speedo gear had popped out of the transmission but there was nowhere to pull over and check. A mile or so later the speedometer went straight back up to 110. Its been fine since (150km or so). speedo gear was still in the transmission snugly and the cable obviously wasn't broken. Speedometer doesn't vibrate up and down, its smooth because i regreased it about a year ago. I dont think it could be loose behind the dash because it would go off and on more often right? Any thoughts?
Second thing was today. Raining a lot and parked at a store after driving 20km or so. When i started it back up my alternater light didnt go out. Revved it up a bunch and it stayed on. Drove half a mile to another store and it was still on so i left it idling and poked around at the wires from my alternator and checked some fuses and stuff. Everything looked fine but the light was still on so i shut it off and went shopping. Come out 20 min later and fire it up and the light goes out right away. I have no clue what was up with that, any ideas?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[harpon]

If you turn on the radio and hear Ann Southern and/or your mother,
time to rise and shine!

[nitrofarm]

Your cable is binding and then it popped out of the drive slot. Thats why it read zero,then it freed it self and popped back into the drive slot (time to look for some good used parts).
Your Belt was slipping from dampness then dried out enough from the heat of the engine(while Engine was off). Time for a New Belt with the correct tension. Also check your Alt Bearings while you have the Belt Off....

[Flw Sock]

Nitro, I'm having alternator belt issues ever since I swapped to an upgraded alternator. I tighten the hell out of it but after a few miles of use it seems to always come loose again. Any ideas? It's getting annoying to have to loosen the alternator and make the tension tighter all the time.

[Flyin4stroke]

It's pretty common with new belts to have to tighten after a few hundred miles.

[nitrofarm]

Hmmm Not sure Karl,should I stop by and look at it? I've been looking for an excuse to see your Pick Up.

[scitzz]

You can use a multi meter at your battery to check voltage, and as Nitro said, the belt is probably somewhat worn and/or loose.

[Flw Sock]

It's a brand new belt and squeals after the first run. I'll have to figure something out. I've went through like 4 of them since swapping and have driven a cumulative total of like 200 miles since the first new one I installed...

[jaketlong11]

alignment

[william]

Is the upgraded alternator from a capri?
All my na capri alternators eat belts .

[scitzz]

alignment

Or bearings.

[ryanprins13]

Thanks, i hadn't thought of it binding like that. But when its close to binding enough the needle would jump a bunch first right? And it was and is smooth with newish grease. When i bought the car i drove it for about a year with the needle vibrating up and down 10km/hr. Just had to average the sweep to get my actual speed... :p then it started squealing and scraping so loud i brought it to a mechanic who told me i had to grease the speedo cable. Was perfect since, but through all that it never hopped out and made my speedometer quit like now.
But ill just tell myself thats what it is and hope it doesn't happen again
With the alt the belt is only a year old and properly tightened. I checked the alt bearing when i changed the belt and it was fine but i should pull it off and check again. If it was water it should have heated off while i was at te first store for 20 minutes i would think. The first store was after a 20km freeway drive so the engine was warm.
I didn't have a voltmeter with me at the time, but if it was actually not working and i ran it for 10minutes with no charge it would have taken a second or 2 at least for that light to go out when i restarted it right? To get the voltage back up? It went out the instant i let off the starter.
Thanks for the ideas!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WmWatt]

What does the belt look like when it's shot? Wear can come from bent pulleys? Do you always buy the same brand of belt? The pulley is a V-belt. Does the V fit the groove in the pulleys or is it too wide or too narrow? Do both pulleys have the same size groove?

[nitrofarm]

The light only indicates Low Alt Output(If the Battery is Dead,the Light will go out immediately if the Alt is good). So if it wasn't slipping due to moisture and poor tension it could be a faulty connection in the Alt "Field" wiring Circuit. The Field is what initialize's Alt Output upon start up.

[Flyin4stroke]

My bp does this. I've tightened the belt a few times already. Only have less than 1,000 miles. I'd rather tighten it over and over then over tighten it and put stress on the bearings and pulleys.