johnnywipp
05-08-2024, 04:17 PM
Hey all, getting a check in before I move a certain direction
1986 vanwagon
about two months ago I was driving home at night and noticed my lights were dim, and my dash lights were dimming out, I was going up the mountain and noticed I was losing engine power, I barely made it up, and had to coast down and the van stalled out and died before I could make it home.
assumed it was an alternator issue, so I charged up the battery, ordered a new one from rock auto, it was an easy swap, and the van fired right up and had no issues.
same thing happened again about a week ago, but the week leading up I noticed in second and third gear the engine would do this weird soft sputtering but then keep moving just fine with no real loss of engine power.
got it towed home, charged the battery back up, tested the battery with a multimeter and it was reading within range. Cranked the van, started immediately, just to check I pulled the negative terminal and the van died instantly.
I’ve seen some other forums pointing to fusible links, but the van dying when I pull the battery cable make me think it’s the alternator again? Is there something else I should be checking? Or is it possible that it just got a bad alternator? I always order from rock auto and usually assume things are good to go.
1986 vanwagon
about two months ago I was driving home at night and noticed my lights were dim, and my dash lights were dimming out, I was going up the mountain and noticed I was losing engine power, I barely made it up, and had to coast down and the van stalled out and died before I could make it home.
assumed it was an alternator issue, so I charged up the battery, ordered a new one from rock auto, it was an easy swap, and the van fired right up and had no issues.
same thing happened again about a week ago, but the week leading up I noticed in second and third gear the engine would do this weird soft sputtering but then keep moving just fine with no real loss of engine power.
got it towed home, charged the battery back up, tested the battery with a multimeter and it was reading within range. Cranked the van, started immediately, just to check I pulled the negative terminal and the van died instantly.
I’ve seen some other forums pointing to fusible links, but the van dying when I pull the battery cable make me think it’s the alternator again? Is there something else I should be checking? Or is it possible that it just got a bad alternator? I always order from rock auto and usually assume things are good to go.