Post by dudgorgon on Mar 4, 2011 0:26:18 GMT -5
My hat's off to all of you who lead me to the light on this one...thanks.
Back in 2007 I had to replace the original alternator and thought nothing of it because I figured it needed replacing. That was alternator 1 and we'll call it a1 for short. Two weeks later a1 died and I had it replaced with a2. Three weeks later a3 replaced A2. Several months later a4, then a5, then a6...hmm strange.
One day while changing my oil I looked up at the bottom of a6 and noticed a drop of oil hanging there. After doing some research on this website and asking questions, some very talented and helpful folks told me the seal on the front of the cam was leaking oil and was causing the alternators to burn out.
To help those who suspect they have the same problem or are on ax (where x=>2) I will list as many symptoms that I can remember...and here they are:
BURNING OIL
The obvious one was the plume of smoke out the tail pipe from accelerating at a dead stop...especially from a traffic light. I'd have to be at idle for a couple minutes otherwise I would not see it coming out the back probably because it was so little I could not see it in the rear mirror going over the poor soul behind me.
ELECTRICAL
When your alternator starts to go, strange things will happen and these are what I ran noticed since 2007:
1. Out of the blue...the engine will not start to the point you don't even hear a click or struggling engine turn-over. A jump start has no affect in this case.
2. The wiper blades would travel across the windshield slower than normal and after approx 10 minutes of driving they would go back to normal speed
3. Related to number 2 above, the power windows would slowly move up/down rather than the speed you are accustomed to and go back to normal after about ten minutes of driving.
4. Related to number 2 from above, the instrument panel lights would not be as bright as your accustomed to seeing but would go back to the brightness level after about ten minutes of driving.
5. The temperature gauge would climb rapidly to High rather than hovering just the below the mid mark, which is normal at least for my truck.
6. Related to number 5 above, the instrument panel lights would go super...uber...bright when the temp gauge was rapidly climbing.
7. The battery light and brake light would flicker or flash on/off. These are just below the tac.
8. When condition #7 was true but the indicators off, the emergency brake light would not work when you lifted the emergency brake handle.
9. The service engine light would come on, go off, come one, go off, etc...
10. The car would die to the point where there wasn't enough juice to turn on the hazard lights. That was fun breaking down in the middle of the road during rush hour..."Hey !@#hole, put your hazards on!"...good times.
It turns out that the factory installed cam seal is a defective part and has been replaced by a new one. So today I had both cam seals replaced as well as a6 with a7 (under warranty of course) and the total bill was $256. I'd pay that price all day long...
As I was stopped at a light tonight, I look out my rear mirror, gunned the accelerator and no plume of smoke! I will monitor the truck over the next couple of days and hope that I can finally put this problem to rest.
BTW: The mechanic assigned to my truck said he could not count how many Montero Sports customers he's had that were replacing one alternator after another until the cam seals were replaced.
On a side note, if you're going to have this work done have the water pump replaced ONLY if you need to have your timing belt changed. To replace the water pump one must remove the timing belt. Otherwise leave it alone because removal of the water pump will tack on an additional 4 hours of labor. My belt was just replaced so my mechanic said it was not worth it right now. (The water pump is approx $175 and labor is $54 to install which would be on top of the 4 hours to remove/reinstall the timing belt)
I hope my post will help those struggling with all the crunchy goodness a simple tiny oil leak will cause from a defective $13.50 oil seal.
Thank you...
Back in 2007 I had to replace the original alternator and thought nothing of it because I figured it needed replacing. That was alternator 1 and we'll call it a1 for short. Two weeks later a1 died and I had it replaced with a2. Three weeks later a3 replaced A2. Several months later a4, then a5, then a6...hmm strange.
One day while changing my oil I looked up at the bottom of a6 and noticed a drop of oil hanging there. After doing some research on this website and asking questions, some very talented and helpful folks told me the seal on the front of the cam was leaking oil and was causing the alternators to burn out.
To help those who suspect they have the same problem or are on ax (where x=>2) I will list as many symptoms that I can remember...and here they are:
BURNING OIL
The obvious one was the plume of smoke out the tail pipe from accelerating at a dead stop...especially from a traffic light. I'd have to be at idle for a couple minutes otherwise I would not see it coming out the back probably because it was so little I could not see it in the rear mirror going over the poor soul behind me.
ELECTRICAL
When your alternator starts to go, strange things will happen and these are what I ran noticed since 2007:
1. Out of the blue...the engine will not start to the point you don't even hear a click or struggling engine turn-over. A jump start has no affect in this case.
2. The wiper blades would travel across the windshield slower than normal and after approx 10 minutes of driving they would go back to normal speed
3. Related to number 2 above, the power windows would slowly move up/down rather than the speed you are accustomed to and go back to normal after about ten minutes of driving.
4. Related to number 2 from above, the instrument panel lights would not be as bright as your accustomed to seeing but would go back to the brightness level after about ten minutes of driving.
5. The temperature gauge would climb rapidly to High rather than hovering just the below the mid mark, which is normal at least for my truck.
6. Related to number 5 above, the instrument panel lights would go super...uber...bright when the temp gauge was rapidly climbing.
7. The battery light and brake light would flicker or flash on/off. These are just below the tac.
8. When condition #7 was true but the indicators off, the emergency brake light would not work when you lifted the emergency brake handle.
9. The service engine light would come on, go off, come one, go off, etc...
10. The car would die to the point where there wasn't enough juice to turn on the hazard lights. That was fun breaking down in the middle of the road during rush hour..."Hey !@#hole, put your hazards on!"...good times.
It turns out that the factory installed cam seal is a defective part and has been replaced by a new one. So today I had both cam seals replaced as well as a6 with a7 (under warranty of course) and the total bill was $256. I'd pay that price all day long...
As I was stopped at a light tonight, I look out my rear mirror, gunned the accelerator and no plume of smoke! I will monitor the truck over the next couple of days and hope that I can finally put this problem to rest.
BTW: The mechanic assigned to my truck said he could not count how many Montero Sports customers he's had that were replacing one alternator after another until the cam seals were replaced.
On a side note, if you're going to have this work done have the water pump replaced ONLY if you need to have your timing belt changed. To replace the water pump one must remove the timing belt. Otherwise leave it alone because removal of the water pump will tack on an additional 4 hours of labor. My belt was just replaced so my mechanic said it was not worth it right now. (The water pump is approx $175 and labor is $54 to install which would be on top of the 4 hours to remove/reinstall the timing belt)
I hope my post will help those struggling with all the crunchy goodness a simple tiny oil leak will cause from a defective $13.50 oil seal.
Thank you...