Power steering leak messing up alternator?

[BimmerWill]

I've noticed the last couple of days that my red battery light is coming on with hard acceleration. My power steering lines has been leaking for a while but hasn't caused problems until now. I have removed the alternator not too long ago to replace the OFHG.

Should I be worried and fix this immediately or do I have a little bit of time. Cash is short so I can't really put up the bill for the lines just yet.

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[danewilson77]

That red battery light tells me the belt is slipping on the alternator which means... Imo.... That your belt could fail, with the addition of oil on it.

That belt turns water pump too.

If you lose that belt, overheat car, warp head, blow head gasket, etc.

I dunno if I would chance it though I understand your situation.

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[BimmerWill]

That red battery light tells me the belt is slipping on the alternator which means... Imo.... That your belt could fail, with the addition of oil on it.

That belt turns water pump too.

If you lose that belt, overheat car, warp head, blow head gasket, etc.

I dunno if I would chance it though I understand your situation.

Sent from the HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA and USA

I recently replaced the serpentine. Is there a way to remove the oil from the belt or is it better to just get a new one? I know I can get one at advance for a decent price.

Def don't want to have a big whoops that's for sure. The light only comes on then goes back off immediately when I let off the gas. I can make it come on with quick blips on the throttle to 3.5k. Im thinking your right on the belt. Ill check and make sure its got good tension right now at least.

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[kayger12]

Agree with DW's assessment.

Getting a new belt isn't going to help if you still have the leak. You're still going to get oil on the belt and will still get slippage, just maybe not enough to trigger the alternator light.

[BimmerWill]

Agree with DW's assessment.

Getting a new belt isn't going to help if you still have the leak. You're still going to get oil on the belt and will still get slippage, just maybe not enough to trigger the alternator light.

That's a good point Keith. Guess ill save up my pennies lol.

Everyone think id be alright going aftermarket on the hoses? They aren't pressurized as far as I know. The two lines going to the reservoir.

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[kayger12]

Yeah, I think you'd be fine with aftermarket.

Just for kicks, double check that it's not leaking at one of your hose clamps.

Just found mine leaking there last weekend. New clamp = no more leak.

[wsmeyer]

Interesting problem.

The alternator is designed to put out sufficient current at idle. If the belt is slipping on the alternator pulley, the alternator wouldn't spin as fast as it should but I would expect that it would at least be spinning as fast as at idle.

If the belt was slipping on the crank pulley though, the drag of the water pump and alternator could stop the belt. I think you would be able to see this happening.

Could also be the alternator brushes or commutator.

[BimmerWill]

Yeah, I think you'd be fine with aftermarket.

Just for kicks, double check that it's not leaking at one of your hose clamps.

Just found mine leaking there last weekend. New clamp = no more leak.


I may try that. Right now the light is coming on at anything over 3k with normal driving. Did a price check at my local stealership. Both lines are going to run $100.14 with tax.

Does anyone know a simple way to remove the OEM clamps? From what I understand they are the crimp style so they are difficult to take off without damaging the hose.
If i stop the leak I still run into the problem of the belt slipping. Will the ATF fluid eventually dry up and no longer cause problems or am I going to need to replace the brand new belt?

[niart906]

^Get a nice set of big wire cutters, clamp the big wedge that sticks out and twist it back and forth. That's how I did it. Crude, but it worked. Replace with stainless hose clamps.

[Dave1027]

If i stop the leak I still run into the problem of the belt slipping. Will the ATF fluid eventually dry up and no longer cause problems or am I going to need to replace the brand new belt?
Get a can of brake cleaner and spray liberally on to the belt and pullies while idling.

[BimmerWill]

Get a can of brake cleaner and spray liberally on to the belt and pullies while idling.

Could I spray some brake cleaner on the alternator as well to remove any atf fluid from it as well with the engine not running or is that likely going to cause problems?

Also can anyone tell me what size hose clamps I need?

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[BimmerWill]

Checked alternator output while running. Obc is showing only charging 13 at most and dipping down to 12.7 when idling. When under load it's only drawing mid 11's

Could I have oil on the coils causing this fluctuation? Is there something I can spray on it to clean it off?

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[BimmerWill]

Looks like the power steering is leaking onto the connector that plugs into the back of the alternator. You think I could spray some carbon cleaner on that to get the crap off?

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[danewilson77]

I would use some electrical cleaner.

What cleaner were you referring to?

[BimmerWill]

Carb cleaner* or do you think I need to pick up some electrical cleaner?

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[danewilson77]

I guess you could use carb cleaner on the outside.....but you may need to disconnect, and hit the business end with some electrical cleaner.

[BimmerWill]

I guess you could use carb cleaner on the outside.....but you may need to disconnect, and hit the business end with some electrical cleaner.

Do you mean disconnect the connector? Im talking about the one that goes into the unit that you push the spring clip down in order to remove.

This one?
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/17/8udege2e.jpg
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[danewilson77]

Yup...

[BimmerWill]

Alright will do. Think I should hit the alternator side too?

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[danewilson77]

Wouldn't hurt.

[LivesNearCostco]

Maybe also the big red cable that attaches to the back of the alternator. Disconnect it, clean the contacts, and put it back on. I'm assuming that's the main juice conduit from alternator to rest of the system.

[BimmerWill]

You are correct. Im gonna drive it this morning to class and monitor my voltage readings to see if its gotten better.

Does anyone know what it should be charging? I read somewhere that they charge 14 amps?

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[BimmerWill]

Only charging 12.9 this morning. .called the dealership said I had one of three possible alternators in it, two valeos or a bosch, I went to a rebuilder yesterday and he told me it was a valeo.

Gonna pull the box out again tonight and see if I can get a number off of it to determine which one I have exactly. Order a rebuild kit off pelican and hopefully get it back up to par in no time.

Guy at the rebuild shop wanted $140 to rebuild it. Bearings seem to still be good so gonna order some brushes and a regulator.

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[BimmerWill]

Alternator is def toast. Battery light is now constantly on and is now only showing 11.5 with the car running on the OBC. Ugh should have taken it in today and had it rebuilt but was banking on it making it til the body shop could get the front end fixed....guess ill have to postpone dropping the car off til Tuesday so I can get the alternator rebuilt on Monday.

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[wsmeyer]

That sucks. At least you know what the problem is. Keep moving forward.

[BimmerWill]

Dropped off the alternator this morning. Parts had to be ordered so will pick it up tomorrow around lunch and hope to still have it to the body shop by tomorrow afternoon.

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[BimmerWill]

Picked up rebuilt alternator and installed. Light went off intially but is now back on and battery is being drained even quicker then before...thoughts?

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[BimmerWill]

Turns out rebuild wasn't so much of a rebuild. Took it up to advance and it failed immediately. Going back up there to get it straightened out or my money back.

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[danewilson77]

Ugh. H8 stories like this.

[Dave_B]

Dang, sorry to hear Will.

Care to share what rebuild kit it was, and what exactly was included? Hope you get your $ back, most times with electronics like this they have a strict refund policy.

[BimmerWill]

Took it to a rebuilding shop. They rebuilt my old alternator. Up here right now to see what's wrong with it.

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[BimmerWill]

Okay so apparently the Voltage regulator they replaced it with was toast, either they ordered the wrong one or something didnt get hooked up correctly.

I remember reading last night when I was trying to diagnose possible solutions as to why the alternator wasn't charging someone said that on my particular alternator the plug that goes into the back of the alternator (has two prongs on the clip) each prong should have around 12 volts coming out of it with the ignition on, my guesstimate is that these leads tell the regulator how much power the alternator should put out in order to keep the battery optimally charged depending on the load.

Can someone affirm this for me? I want to call the shop and let them know this to ensure that they order the right regulator this time, the guy I spoke to believes they put the wrong regulator in so I want to make sure I get the right one this time.

[BimmerWill]

Got it back on the road. Charging 13.9 :)

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[danewilson77]

Got it back on the road. Charging 13.9 :)

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:thumbsup

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[BimmerWill]

Believe my serpentine belt is getting atf fluid on it causing the belt to slip under load. Need to get that leak fixed before it toasts the alternator again...

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[BimmerWill]

Well took a look at everything last night. There was a slight residue on the return lines for the power steering reservoir but nothing that would cause the rebuilt alternator or belt to malfunction.

Im beginning to wonder if the shop that result my old one replaced the regulator with a cheap aftermarket part that cannot handle the stress of any hard acceleration above 3.5-4k rpm.

Just shooting in the dark at this point but something apparently is still not right with the thing...

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[brettbimmer]

Any chance that you are getting power steering fluid weeping out of the small hole in the cap? I have had this myself at the track on a hot day.

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[BimmerWill]

Drove it all the way to school today with voltage staying a solid 13.9 even with me trying to get it to act up.

It was raining pretty hard yesterday and I feel like some water could have gotten sucked up into the cooling duct for the alternator making it malfunction for a little while until it dried out?

Im still at a loss as to what's going on..

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