Actually, I can see that working well for older cars, but modern cars use alot
more power so it depends on how far you try to go. I did what Paul is
suggesting when the alternator went out on my 89 Pontiac many years ago. I got
about 1 hour/55 miles and then ran out of juice after an overnite top off
charge. between the FI, the hi output ignition and on-board computer, running
on battery power is very temporary and also very hard on the battery. I recall
my battery quit a few months after that episode but that may have been
coincidence. Recently, the alternator again failed, this time the nite before
an autox. I could have tried to top off the battery and run the car the next
day but going with what I already knew, I chose to leave it in the garage. of
course, YMMV.
Dave Yeung
Houston Region
---------- Paul Parkanzky <parkanz1@msu.edu> writes:
From: Paul Parkanzky <parkanz1@msu.edu>
To: autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: pontiac grandam - stranded
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:31:06 -0400
At 09:55 AM 8/26/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi gang,
>
>A guy in our office had to leave his '99 V6 grandam in a small town last
>night when the alternator went out. We're gonig to go replace it tonight.
>Any suggestions about what tools to take? Any other tips are appriciated.
>
>thanks,
>e
Personally, I'd just take a fresh battery if you can borrow one from
another car. The car will run for quite a ways with a topped off battery
and no alternator. Get it to someplace more comfortable to do the
work. This is how we did it with the '58 Ford when the generator quit
(actually, we ran without a generator for a VERY long time, just charging
the battery in the evenings). I've done the same with an MGB and with a
Grand Prix when the alternator quit.
Good luck,
Paul Parkanzky
Michigan State University
parkanz1@msu.edu
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