Need a little help car just died. I think it maybe the Alt

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:18 pm

My car just died...in the middle of traffic luckily I was able to push it to the side. My battery light came on last night, but the car was starting so I thought its either nothing or my alternator. Today I was driving the battery light came on again..then my radio started powering on and off ...then the lights went dim on the dash and my car sounded like it was about to die so i gassed it up and as soon as i took my foot of the pedal ...well there it went. I am not getting anything when i turn the ignition and I am getting the following codes 1684,1682,1685,0833 any insight?

i think those are all Alternator relating codes. Last night I smelled coolant which seems like it leaked outta the radiator cap...I think what happened was the coolant leaked into the alternator and shorted it out perhaps?

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:14 pm

My best guess is that possibly coolant got on your belt causing it to slip, letting your battery voltage drop till the PCM wouldn't fuction anymore. Disconnect the battery and hook a charger to it. Check the belt. Prolly best to replace it if it got saturated. You could try to clean it, but chances are it could be glazed and will never grip properly. I don't think coolant would damage the alternator. 1685 is invalid Skim. Your PCM prolly was so wack from low voltage it wasn't even recognizing the code.
IDK what P0833 is.

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:24 am

Well I was able to get a Jump...but that only lasted until I took the cables off. I then decided to charge the battery, took it home did a quick charge for 2 hours popped it back in got on the highway and my battery light goes on again....Soo I am going to test the alternator tomorrow. Seems like the best bet right?

Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:02 am

I would check and see if the alternator belt is on and intact first. If the belt is good, then it's probably a bad alternator or a bad ground. The alternator will make the car die like that, usually the car will run fine with a bad battery and a good alternator. Until you try to start it again.

Testing the alternator is the best idea, no sense in replacing if it's not broke.

How old is the battery? Might as well have that tested as well, might be as simple as changing the battery.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:40 am

Something I didn't think about yesterday was if the coolant got inside it might be keeping the brushes in the alternator from making contact with the rotor windings. Prolly not, but it wouldn't hurt to flush some water through it, just in case. water won't hurt it. Just let it dry out in the sun, or reinstall it and spin dry it. Like was previously mentioned, check the belt, and any grounds that may have come loose or corroded. If the belt looks shiney or had coolant on it, pick up a new one where you have the alternator checked.

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:14 pm

alright I guess its time to get my hands dirty..I just wish it was located on the top of the engine like the sunfires

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:13 pm

...you know Haynes doesnt mention the hardest part...how the hell do you get the ground off the alternator it seems like its attached permenantly

kbobob · Post by **kbobob** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:22 pm

getting the alternator out isnt that bad....there are the two bolts that hold it to the braket, then you disconnect the plug...and then the other wire has a 10mm holding it on(deep socket)....that was it...i just changed mine on thursday...

btw...this was on a 2001

TomZ · Post by **TomZ** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:36 pm

Make sure the battery is disconnected before disconnecting the aternator. If you don't, you'll be arc welding with alternator wire.

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:19 am

I personally would check the B+ lead on the alternator and make sure that you still have it connected, bc going by everything you just described, it is an alternator problem. (I should know, Im the king of having alternator problems, lol) When you change your alternator, you might want to change your batt. too and check all the wiring to make sure that there is no corrosion or wear anywhere that could cause a short.

...you know Haynes doesnt mention the hardest part...how the hell do you get the ground off the alternator it seems like its attached permenantly

From the description, it sounds like the 10mm nut that attaches to the terminal might have gotten to hot and welded itself to the terminal... I had that happen to me about 4 times with 4 different alternators...

Like was stated before, the nut should come right off using a 10mm deep socket.

aperson · Post by **aperson** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:21 am

p0833: clutch position switch B circuit malfunction
p1684: MFG Control Auxiliary inputs & outputs
p1682: MFG Control Auxiliary inputs & outputs
p1685: MFG Control Auxiliary inputs & outputs

Thats from the DTC program that came with my reader. They're most likely from when you low voltaged everything.

If coolant got on the belt, I wouldn't bother with cleaning it after what's happened, I'd clean all the pulleys with super clean and install a new belt after I got the alternator checked out.

kbobob · Post by **kbobob** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:57 am

1684 is the battery was disconnected in the last 50 starts....so here is a link to the rest of the codes

http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t ... ight=p1684

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:28 am

Well now that that is all taken cared of there always seems to be a new problem. All of a sudden my Neon is over heating now, I looked under the hood and it seemed like coolant was coming outta the radiator cap....so no problem I thought let me just get a new cap..of course it could never be that easy for some reason coolant is still coming outta the cap and I dont think its the housing I replaced the housing like 3 months ago after I cracked it trying to replace the thermostat.

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:47 am

Possibly they are selling you the wrong cap? Or your hard heater line coupler hoses are spraying up there, making it appear that the cap is leaking.

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:40 pm

Well im pretty sure its the right cap (16 LBS) and it looks and fits just like the stock..besides I have 3. Well I added a bottle of coolant and desided to watch the car so make sure coolant was coming outta the cap...had it running for 20 min and nothing. Tricky little car made me thing the problem was solved. I drove ONE BLOCK and my temp started to go up I ran out as fast as I could popped the hood and coolant is everywhere. So then I thought leme rev the engine up passed 3k rpm and what do you know coolant is spraying outta the cap....but makes no sense. Any ideas?

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:38 pm

Well in an update..I was sqeezing the upper radiator hose and I heard air coming out of the radiator cap area...Is this normal? If not then perhaps it is only the intake neck that houses the thermostat....but I dont understand how it would just go bad when its only a few months old. But anyways I drove my car around the block until it was almost at the point in which the thermostat opens up...and AS SOON as it does coolant comes POURING out...

TomZ · Post by **TomZ** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:38 pm

m2736185 wrote:Well in an update..I was sqeezing the upper radiator hose and I heard air coming out of the radiator cap area...Is this normal? If not then perhaps it is only the intake neck that houses the thermostat....but I dont understand how it would just go bad when its only a few months old. But anyways I drove my car around the block until it was almost at the point in which the thermostat opens up...and AS SOON as it does coolant comes POURING out...

Is the hose to your coolant recovery bottle connected and intact?

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:43 pm

m2736185 wrote:Well in an update..I was sqeezing the upper radiator hose and I heard air coming out of the radiator cap area...Is this normal? If not then perhaps it is only the intake neck that houses the thermostat....but I dont understand how it would just go bad when its only a few months old. But anyways I drove my car around the block until it was almost at the point in which the thermostat opens up...and AS SOON as it does coolant comes POURING out...

The cooling system is sealed with the reservoir tank taking the excess fluid during warm-up and when operating temperature is reached.

So, I would say you have a leak in the radiator cap area. Inspect carefully around that area... including the cap which is perhaps not setting correctly.

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:43 am

TomZ wrote:Is the hose to your coolant recovery bottle connected and intact?

There should be a small nipple comming out just under the radiator cap. If it is broken off then it wouldn't be as noticeable. The bad thing is, if it is missing, then you will need to replace the t'stat housing, again. I thought about it, but I guess I figured it would be obvious and you would have stated it was comming out that little tube, but then I thought it may have gotten broke off.
Thank TomZ for not assuming the obvious would be noticed.

Edit:
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroke ... 198b25.jsp

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:46 am

Update?

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:24 pm

Those thermostat housing units from Autozone are the worse. That was the 4th one I have had to replace...after 6 months they all seems to crack on the bottom and then coolant starts spraying out. The right size of my engine is now painted orange.

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:56 pm

Wow been a while, eh?

m2736185 · Post by **m2736185** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:45 pm

Yah it has, but atleast my neon isnt leaking coolant out of the thermostat housing anymore. Nows its just leaking out of one of the seals on the block...yea one in the back of the engine thats impossible to get to ha it even looks like its rusting around the seal.

Post by **occasional demons** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:05 pm

That would either be a core plug, or the block drain.