SUV Altenator Question

[Tyme2fish]

I own a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer that has a bad alternator.:redface:
My question is how far or what duration of time will a vehicle operate with a bad alternator and a fully charged battery.

ie. Can I drive 5 miles to a local shop?

 

[rbh]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

If you unplug the day time running lights, no defrost/heater, no radio, and the batteries are fully charged, Give yourself an hour at the most but you could probably push an hour and a half MAYBE.

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

Thanks for the rapid reply.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

ie. Can I drive 5 miles to a local shop?

Absolutely. I drove from Columbus, OH to Covington, KY (Just south of Cincy) on battery power alone, during the day. Only had to stop to get gas, then it wouldn't start. Got a jump and made it 60 more miles!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

Should do 5 miles for fun.

 

[mike343]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

I did 250 miles once with an extra starting load after getting gas. We were in Laughlin, Nev after a few days at Havasu when the lights went dim and we pulled into a parking lot at a casino. In those days, Laughlin didn't even have a gas station. All AAA could do was to bring a battery. I took the battery out of the boat, put it in the van, and the four of us slept in the van until dawn. no problem getting home.

Second failure of alternator brushes in an 83 Dodge van

 

[j_martin]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

For five miles, don't even worry about running lights. Just charge it up, start it and drive it to the shop, assuming it won't take you over an hour to get there. That's also assuming the battery is in decent shape.

I've driven from Washington, DC to Charleston, SC on a battery. My daughter lost an alternator at the Northern border of Texas, and drive it home to MN with a few stops for charging. Shops she stopped at kept trying to rip her off for several hundred dollars. It turned out to be a missing mounting bolt. In Iowa, a red neck in a pickup truck jammed her tire iron behind the alternator and gave her a bungy strap to keep tension on it. She drove it home that way.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

a red neck in a pickup truck jammed her tire iron behind the alternator and gave her a bungy strap to keep tension on it. She drove it home that way.

What ever works

We once filled the window washer with gas and took the squirter hose and ran it down the carb when the fuel pump failed. It was a long day but we got home.

We use to run 100 lap races with out a alternator (rob,s power) you will be fine with a charged battery.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

We once filled the window washer with gas and took the squirter hose and ran it down the carb when the fuel pump failed. It was a long day but we got home.

One word describes this post....

Darwin.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

Interesting. I didn't know it would run that long. The couple times this has happened to me (battery light on) I've found the nearest safe parking lot that I wouldn't mind changing an alternator in and called for a ride

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

I sold the Mountaineer today. Charged the battery over night and the buyers were informed of the alternator problem.

Not my problem anymore.

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

I'm sorry, but I missed the part where you said the Mountaineer was for sale or being sold. Not that it makes a difference, but selling it because the alternator was bad sounds like tossing the baby with the bath water...
Just a thought and a little bored.

 

[Tyme2fish]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

I'm sorry, but I missed the part where you said the Mountaineer was for sale or being sold. Not that it makes a difference, but selling it because the alternator was bad sounds like tossing the baby with the bath water...
Just a thought and a little bored.

LOL No problem. I didn't post that the Mountaineer was for sale.

This was a vehicle I bought for my son when he was in college. I bought it for his use back in 2003.
Son has since graduated and bought his own vehicle and left the Mountaineer for me.

I have since retired and it's now only my wife and myself at home and I didn't want or need the Mountaineer as that made 3 vehicles for just 2 drivers.

I just wanted to determine that whomever bought it from me could get home with it. The buyers seemed happy with the deal I offered as I took of the price of the alternator from my advertised price. At 186,000 miles it was getting as long in the tooth as I am!

 

[dolluper]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

Man I like that fix ...sell it LOL's

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: SUV Altenator Question

I've got 189k on my 99, guess I should replace the alternator soon.

Last one on a Ford I replaced died at 226k on Dad's F150, before that was my 03 Mustang died at 44k in downtown Chicago on the interstate during a Sunday afternoon rush hour. Walked a mile to a Sears, bought 2 of their best batteries, an 8mm socket, a 6" extension and a 1/4" ratchet.
"Borrowed" a shopping cart, skated it back mile back to the interstate, swapped batteries and drove home 80 miles on one battery, died as we pulled into the garage.