mustang430

what all could it be? im not too smart with electrical crap. how should i go about finding the problem?

mustangman281

You have a short somewhere. You have to take it to a shop.

UTI_TECH429

what all are you running in that car do you have a big sound system and **** like that. also if it happens again check the volts at the battery it should be around 14 volts for the alternator to be properly charging.

UTI_TECH429

its probably not a short to ground but a short to power if it is and i highly dought there is a short to power somewhere but also check the red wire going from your alternator to your battery make sure it is not damaged

jrherald420

I had to replace the alternator on my ex-wifes toyota 5 times before i got a good one from autozone. Rebuilt alternators blow donkey di*k

mustang430

i guess ill get it looked at. but im hoping i was just gettin some crap alternators. There is another guy around here with a cobra that said hes on his 5th alternator. so who knows!

03FstStngKB

...a bad battery(shorted cell) will cause you to blow more alternators than your local crack head *****. Also rebuilt alternators, starters, etc...are never as good as new ones. It tends to be a hit or miss thing when dealing with that cost saving method.

**edit**

Most people don't realize that a battery and alternator work in unison and depend upon each other to run right(last awhile). The only way to prevent failures of either/or, is to buy a heavy duty alternator or a dry cell battery that is capable of deep cycling. Your battery is normally only used to start the car. The alternator powers the car under normal conditions...when the capacity of the alternator has been used or maxed out then the battery is being withdrawn from. When you have a failing alternator for days, weeks, or months you are putting much of the stress on the battery. Depending on the severity of the situation...it can cause premature battery failure!

The same thing goes for alternators. If you have an alternator that is new and a bad battery...the alternator is constantly dishing out lots of current to keep the battery at a full state of charge. If the battery is shorted it will constantly be drawing a large current to fulfill the needs of the battery until met...which will be never because of the short situation.

Just somethings to remember while dealing with a battery or alternator problem. Sometimes it's best to replace both at the sametime or at least have both tested because you never know what stress you have placed on the battery or alternator from the start or get go.

03cobranfs

I am new to this forum so I thougt I would give my 2 cents. My son and I just bought a showroom 03 cobra SVT with 32k miles on it, a few mods, pullies, exhaust, chipped, etc. Scarry fast. Well it turns out my neighbor has a 2008 (first of 35 sent to our state) shelby cobra gt500, he stated when he gets on it, he says his battery light comes on, losses pwr, he even has to bring jumper cables, because sometimes it just dies....so he want sto run with my son, and sure enough the 03 Cobra beat him, from the line and 30mph rolling....but at a cost, my son brings his car home and the battery light is on, I measure the battery only 11.25v, have him rev it a little nothing, it should be ~ 13-14v idle, then max ~ 14.5 or so. We removed the alternator and had autozone check it out, yes bad, replaced with another one, but reading posts these are not that reliable. I called a rebuild shop here in town, and he stated NO MODS he or anyone can do will increase the life of these stock units, they die from heat typically. So why spend the money on a higher amperaage unit when your not running a need for more current, i.e more lights, stereo with amps etc. So I apted for the lifetime warrany of the autozone alternator, its been running fine for a week now, at 220 bucks, free replacement sounds like the way to go. takes about 1.5 -2hrs to remove

contentsunderpressur

Sounds like you may have just had bad luck with the first replacement. It's common.