Will I make it home???

Zx2 shut down a few blocks from work. Gave a guy ten dollars in "gas money" to push me to work.

The alternator is out and the battery has been given a nice full charge. Think I can make it home? Three highways and 20 minutes at 70 mph. Lights and all radios will be off.

I'll start taking bets now.

N Sperlo wrote: Zx2 shut down a few blocks from work. Gave a guy ten dollars in "gas money" to push me to work. The alternator is out and the battery has been given a nice full charge. Think I can make it home? Three highways and 20 minutes at 70 mph. Lights and all radios will be off? I'll start taking bets now.

It'll make it.

My MX6 threw the alternator belt (later found that it wrapped around my axle) on a junkyard run 40 miles south of my home.

I didn't know where i was exactly or where a parts store would be, so i drove it home.

Then drove it to the parts store and back.

Then slapped the belt on.

It was fine.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Thats relieving. Guess there should be no worry. Just some of the neighborhoods aren't so... Nice in north Saint Louis.

Yeah, you'll be fine.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: Zx2 shut down a few blocks from work. Gave a guy ten dollars in "gas money" to push me to work. The alternator is out and the battery has been given a nice full charge. Think I can make it home? Three highways and 20 minutes at 70 mph. Lights and all radios will be off? I'll start taking bets now.

It'll make it. My MX6 threw the alternator belt (later found that it wrapped around my axle) on a junkyard run 40 miles south of my home. I didn't know where i was exactly or where a parts store would be, so i drove it home. Then drove it to the parts store and back. Then slapped the belt on. It was fine.

Wow, makes me feel dumb for doing a roadside alternator belt replacement 10 minutes from home...

make sure there is no traffic. Friday afternoon traffic sucks.

If it makes you feel better, i would have replaced the belt if it was an option that presented itself to me.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

ROFL. Then again, I'd just have someone bring my pickup to tow it.

yeah I had about 40 minutes of driving on my jeep with no alternator...

I give you about a 50/50 chance. Better if the battery is nearly new. Worse if the battery is 5 or more years old.

If you are driving through crime-riddled neighborhoods after dark with a large sum of cash in the car, you simply ain't gonna make it.

I don't think so Tim. 15 minutes tops. It's not the travel time (20 minutes) but the speed (70mph) for that amount of time that is leaving you dead in the water. If you said a 20 minute driver with constant stops in the city I'd think you might stand a chance.

HiTempguy wrote: I don't think so Tim. 15 minutes tops. It's not the travel time (20 minutes) but the speed (70mph) for that amount of time that is leaving you dead in the water. If you said a 20 minute driver with constant stops in the city I'd think you might stand a chance.

You'll have to explain that one to me. It takes more "juice" to run a car at highway speeds than it does to stop and go powering brake lights and such?

FWIW mine was 40 miles highway @ 75-80mph. With a much smaller than stock battery.

I have a group 42 battery in the front of the fiat and can go about a 5 days if the alternator is left disconnected. On the morning of the 5th day it will crank slowly and the head lights are dim yellow and then I do the "Doh!" and slap myself on the forehead and push the plug back in.

I seem to do this every 2 months

The alternator went out in my Lada the day I bought it. The next day I went to the Hungarian auto parts store to ask for a new one and the reply was "Are you sure? because I think the car will run ok without it"

I got 2000 forint that says you make it

years ago, I had the alternator on the big truck I used to drive professionally. It was daytime so the lights were off and it was summer, so I was not using the year (it had no aircon) so I do not know when it failed... but discovered that when I went to shut the truck off but couldn't. Being a mechanically injected Diesel, it needed to have the fuel cut to shut off.

I would up running that poor truck another 6 hours, never shutting it off till I got back to the shop. By the time I got there nothing was working.. not even the brake lights.

When I first finished the Sprite I drove it for a week - 100s of miles without it charging.

That said, it's a freakin' huge battery running a coil and brake lights - and that's all.

I'm betting against.
My experience doing it has been positive and negative. The newer the car, the less likely it is to make it. To many electric gizmos running the car in the back ground (ABS Computer, SRS Computer, Body control modules, lighting modules, individual coil packs, etc.)

A few years ago we made it home from kissimmee (approx. 45 min away) in my dad's AMX. Of course, no "electronic gizmos" to worry about...

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: I don't think so Tim. 15 minutes tops. It's not the travel time (20 minutes) but the speed (70mph) for that amount of time that is leaving you dead in the water. If you said a 20 minute driver with constant stops in the city I'd think you might stand a chance.

You'll have to explain that one to me. It takes more "juice" to run a car at highway speeds than it does to stop and go powering brake lights and such? FWIW mine was 40 miles highway @ 75-80mph. With a much smaller than stock battery.

Well I'd be surprised if he makes it, I could be fooled. I once had an intermittent bad connection for the alternator on my Swift that I found out about on a trip to BC. I am basing my answer on that. Handbrake = no brake lights. The only thing the electricals are affected by speed/acceleration wise is the amount of RPM you are turning. 3500rpm for 20 minutes is twice as many ignition pulses than 1750 for 20 minutes. Ignitions take a lot o' jam in modern-ish day fuel injected vehicles.

you know you can drive for like 3 days on a good condition, fully charged battery if you don't have to use the headlights, right?

I threw a serpentine in my DSM in the middle of winter at 2am. Lost my alternator, all my power accessories, and heat. It was cold as hell, but I made it home. And then drove it to the parts store the next day. All while averaging 60mph. I bet it could be done.

So when do we know? Frankly, the suspense is killing me.

Nick, if you're heading South on 55 and need some company on the side of the road, let me know. I'm around Arsenal.

As long as it shut down from a dead battery you should be OK. Wait, isn't there a light on the dash that tells you the alternator is not working ?

sudden shut downs often are caused by a failed timing belt. Just saying.

a lot of cars that throw belts go into limp mode or shut down as a safety precaution. My DSM did and i'm glad. The belt was wrapped around my timing cover and was threatening to take the timing belt with it.