I'm having an issue with my 1990 talon tsi. Friday night I was driving it around, and suddenly the dash lights started getting dimmer and the motor started to stutter a bit when accelerating. I barely made it back to my driveway in time to park it before it died on me. I thought maybe it was a hiccup. But then I tried to start it again last night and right away the lights started getting dimmer and the idle slowly dropped until it died. Immediately after the battery juice was barely enough to start the car again so I could get it back in the garage.

Reminds me of when my alternator blew. However, I changed the alternator recently and I have a new battery that's only two weeks old. It was running perfectly fine for two weeks then this happens suddenly.

I'm going to check the basic connections tonight and I'm going to use an alternator and battery tester to get a preliminary diagnosis, then I'll relay the results back here(thanks Isaque).

Anyone have any ideas?

thanks,

Check your battery. What voltage is it reading at?

Do a quick check at the alternator fuseable link to make sure power is actually getting from the alternator to the battery.

Make sure you check those battery terminal clean and tight. Remember the post and terminal are tapered make sure you terminal is pushed right down on the post.

And charge the battery before doing a charging system test or you can get fauly readings.

Ok guys, thanks for the tips. I will do the tests tonight.

Also, I think I may need new terminals now that you mention it. The ones I have are all chewed up from previous charge boosting (the teeth on the cables) and it does always get loose.

loose terminal will cause all sorts of funky things. Change them out if they're crap. CT sells them for like $10/pair

And don't be a dummy and get the marine ones like I did, I thought they would make things easier but they loved arcing to the hood every time i went over train tracks.

Are you not using a tie down or strap?

But.... When I was putting my car on the road. And taking it for test runs around the block.. I didnt have a battery... well not a happy one. I had to boost it every time. Even if I was driving it for awile. Some times I didnt even have it hooked up.

So I dont think the battery conection is the issue. I think its the alternator. justbecause its new.. dosent mean its good. DSM alternators apperantly suck.

Jay does have a great point. I've installed 2 alternators in a row that were faulty out of the box. One was a failed zener diode in a rectifier bridge, the other had a short on the stator. Heck, I've put in 3 light bulbs in license plate lights that were faulty right from the get go.

Ensure your battery does have a full charge, and a trickle charge at that. Don't forget, an alternator is a battery maintainer, not a charger. If you use an alternator to charge a battery on a regular basis, you will fry either one or the other.

Your battery after a 15 minute charge from the alternator will have what's called a "surface charge". This charge can be easily mistaken for a full battery. A full battery should have 12.54 volts.

When checking your alternator output, ensure you check both voltage and current output. Just because it says 13.7v doesn't mean it's putting out the amperage needed. Amps is what you need to charge your battery, not volts. Picture a charging system like a water system. Volts is your water pressure. With nothing on, you'll have lots of pressure, but when you crank on the lights, high beams, and blower motor, you just opened the flood gates my friend and if you don't have enough water supply (amps), that pressure is going to bleed off real quick.

Hope this helps.

Back then I was using all the stock stuff, but with the marine terminals there are butterflys at at the top and they stick up pretty high, also my hood moves around a lot.

Been there, done that. I've had my positive terminal short out on my hood and kill my car in the middle of an intersection during a turn.


Not. Fun. At. All.

You're lucky. I actually had fire under the hood from it arcing against my strut bar. Hence, no more strut bar!
I noticed the gauges flickering (known to be an alt from a previous experience) so I stopped immidieatly to see what was the problem, and BOOM Fire! I looked around for an extinguisher, no luck. So I did the next best thing. Judo chop that motherfracker back to the fire wall Chuck Norris style! Needless to say it worked out.

Well luckily everytime my car arced I was moving so I basically lost power and then was good to go shortly after

You JUDO chopped a battery on fire?????

Masta Larmond!

Bahaha! Nice!
For the record, I was using the battery clamp. It just slowly creeped forward over time.

Mike is that you doing your whiteboy karate? LOL


Strut towers in the front seem so dangerous on these cars. When I got my first DSM, my cousin came out to help me get her going.

As soon as we connected the new battery the alarm started going off, it was so freaking loud I couldn't even think.

The key fob was out of juice so we couldn't kill it.

He went to disconnect the battery and tapped the strut bar, OMG, bright flash, I hit the deck and he was screaming in pain.

Luckily nobody got hurt...well except for him.

So I tested the battery and alternator using that little gadget that Isaque recommended. My battery is ok and was fully charged (i charged it externally), however my alternator is gone, it was not charging the battery.

So I purchased a new alternator from Ziggy. I don't want to deal with used sh!t anymore (i had previously installed two used alts). Once it comes in I'll install it with Isaque and update on whether or not it fixed my problem.I am also buy new contacts since it broke last night when i was tightening it on the battery (gotta love soft conductive metals).

thanks,

You should seriously consider going to a saturn alternator.

Actually it was a Saturn Alternator (new) that I purchased from Ziggy

Nice, take some pictures! Would love to see some documentation on the install as most of it online is dead links now.

Anybody have some insight on the installation of the Saturn Alt on a 1g? apparently there is some grinding invovled.

Is it worth getting the relocation kit?

https://www.rtmracing.com/xcart/product.php?productid=18819&cat=1915&page=1

https://www.rtmracing.com/xcart/product.php?productid=18354

Grinding is only required to mount it in the stock location. The relocation kit not only prevents you from having to grind, but also keeps the alternator away from the heat of the turbo and drips from the power steering pump.

When I install my Saturn alt, I'll be relocating it. If you plan do, I strongly suggest buying a relocation kit with a steel bracket rather than aluminium.

I'm probably going to be installing in stock location and grinding. Don't want to spend much more than I have to.

^^^ EXACTLY! +1 To Mr. Dilbert.

I would love to relocate but that won't happen until I pull my head off again, it's too difficult to get back there with the intake manifold on there and it's a lot easier to pull the head than it is to get the manifold off (at least in my experience).

Keep in mind, the Saturn alts are far for durable then our cheap ass mitsu ones which whine and bitch when they get a little too warm.
I'll be keeping mine right where it is because my AC is working and the car is keeping cool
Also, why not just make a little heat shield for it? It'll be a fraction of the cost of a relocation kit.

Agreed Johnny, I would honestly much rather relocate my power steering to the rear.

I would think that if your alt is in the rear..m it would be a bitch to replace.. and in the next 10 years you will prolly replace it atleast once.

The power steering pump is much smaller so it would be easier to service. And a fresh pump should last alot longer then an alternator.

The saturn alt was simple to wire up and install.. I would definatly recomend removing the power steering pump and bracketry and at least set it aside. That should give enough room to get a grinder in there. It was for my 2g.

And then ofcourse use the bracket I bought at TSC. Works perfect unlike that silly thing mitsubishi created to tighten the belt.

True, the difference being in replacing the relo'd alt would be under the car (hoist) rather than being able to do it from the ground and through the top of the engine bay.

BUT, I would think the primary reason one would relo the alt is to avoid cooking them with big turbos. And cosmetically pleasing of course. There's a double wammy! function and form!

If I have to remove it again.. Im gonna fabricate something to mount it where the power steering pump was.. So its higher up away from the down pipe. Butwith a good heat sheild it should be fine. Plus unlike the dsm alt.. the saturn alt has a fan on the pulley like most other alternators.

Working for an ACDelco supplier, I picked up a brand new Saturn alternator with a lifetime warranty for very little money. Grinding down the alternator at all would void this warranty. I don't have A/C, and see absolutely no reason to move my P/S pump. I often find when I'm working under the hood that my alternator is in the way, and would love to make space for future turbo setups. These are just some of the reasons I plan on relocating.

I'm not sure why you think it would be so difficult to replace. I can have my manifold off in under a half hour, starting from a fully assembled engine bay. And let's be honest, if you're worried about one job being slightly more of a pain in the ass ONCE in the next TEN YEARS, a DSM is a bad choice.

For the record: my alternator has sat under a dripping P/S pump and beside an unshielded and (until recently) unwrapped FP manifold, seeing cherry hot runs on a regular basis, and has never given me the slightest indication that it's running anything but perfectly.

I relocated the steering.. cause 1... all the lines and the pump looks really ugly. I think it looks alot better and ceaner without all that crap. And 2... Jay racing said they couldnt do it.

I dont understand why people relocate the Alternator If there not going to use a huge down pipe. specially with a sealed air cooled Saturn alternator. Grinding is no big deal for me.. I get good deals on used Saturn alternators.

On a side note. I always thought without the pump there... you could mount a huge turbo in the other direction and place the airfilter in the fender via the space where the pump used to be.. less time the air is in the engine bay. Then you could use as big a down pipe as you want! Unfortunatly for 1g owners the down pipe would have to be a 3 inch 180degree turn. It would work for a 2g. But 1gs have a engine mount in the way.

I can remove my Alternator by opening the hood and removing 2 bolts.. Rear mount alts have to have the car lifted.. climb under neith... lay on you back while reaching into a closed space trying to find the right bolt heads.

My way you can still drink beer while you do it. Your way you have to have someone pour beer into the engine bay and hope it lands in your mouth.

I would never crawl under my car to replace my relocated alternator. Like I said, I can have my manifold off in under a half hour.

In the almost 4 years I've had my DSM, I've removed my alternator once: to pull my engine out and rebuild it.

Edit: Danny, I know you're going to install it at the front and I honestly think that not relocating it won't be an issue. I really hope it solves your problems (because otherwise I'm definitely not helping the clutter in this thread )

I got you beat. I have only pulled mine once in 21 years. And if i ever have to replace it, it sure won't be with a saturn alt.

Yes Mr. Dealership, we know you love your OEM setups



I'm kidding, you know I envy your car