88 V6 Alternator and Fusible Links (Page 1/1)
Raydar OCT 15, 04:24 PM
The other evening, I started my GT and realized that the alternator was not charging.
Fine... one more thing to fix with this car. (I've already fixed a handful of things since I got it, in June.)
Last night I bolted the newly rebuilt alternator in and... it's still not charging.
Came up and fixed an adult beverage and went back to it, today.

Long story short, I found a (previously repaired) burned fusible link, from the alternator charge lead, at the C500.
I remembered I had an old harness laying around, so I pirated the fusible link and a length of the charging wire, in order to locate my splice somewhat away from the fusible link and C500.
Everything is working now, but I found that when I turn on a bunch of stuff (hi/lo beams and A/C) that the new fusible link gets quite warm. Actually too hot to hold onto comfortably. With just the hi/lo beams, it's just "warm". Obviously, this is not a new problem, since it has been repaired before.

Are fusible links supposed to get that hot? I'm guessing no. What causes that much current drain?
My first guess is the radiator fan, since they are well known "current suck" devices.
I'm already planning to replace it with an aftermarket fan. Already did that in my 4.9 car, and it's great!
Anything else?

Thanks!
theogre OCT 15, 05:57 PM
Are fusible links supposed to get that hot? I'm guessing no.
Correct. Shouldn't even get warm most times.

What causes that much current drain?
Anything including a F-link not installed right or is bad.

Get a DC Amp Clamp from Amazon etc like UNI-T UT210E and follow See my Cave, Battery Leaches
since will be about same thing.

See my Cave, Wire Service & Fuse Links notes

If the alt really isn't charging...
Think 88 V6 is CS130 Alt and most times won't drain a battery like SI often do, can have other problems and "dead" or just bad battery light in the dash. That light must work to turn on the Alt.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

Raydar OCT 15, 10:19 PM
Thanks for the links. I was thinking that an "amp-clamp" would be useful. Didn't even think about searching Amazon for one.

Odd thing is, my battery doesn't drain with the car sitting. The rebuilt alternator charges the battery just fine, once the link was fixed, but you can tell it's got a hell of a load on it.
The alternator gets very hot, and it whines, as if everything in the car is on. As I mentioned, the fusible link gets a bit warm, with the headlights on, and downright hot with the A/C (and radiator fan) on.
But everything that I've turned on, so far, has worked normally.

Thanks. That gives me some ideas to look at. I haven't even started pulling fuses yet.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 10-15-2022).]

Raydar OCT 16, 05:06 PM
Annnnd, it's healed! Must be a miracle or something.
After sitting overnight, the "heavy load" seems to be gone.
The alternator no longer whines, and the fusible link is staying cool.
Turned on everything I had on, yesterday, except the A/C (and the radiator fan. I've got a replacement one of those on the way.)
So, unless it's intermittent, I'll just chalk it up to the battery being quite discharged due to starting the car several times, and running the windows up and down, and etc., after the the alternator and fusible link failed.

It's possible that the original alternator was still able to charge had the fusible link not failed, but it had a bad bearing, anyway. It also had little pieces rattling around in it.
The guy rebuilt it "to last". So I don't consider it a wasted effort.