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Alternator eating VR's? (long)
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Posted by Arabiflora [Email] (#1129) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Arabiflora) on Thu, 23 Nov 2006 22:47:52 Share Post by Email
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This is getting old, please help me sort it out.

'88 900S N/A 3 door, 360k miles.

Charging problem in July-- alt warning light (awl) on constantly and battery discharge. Replaced VR with Bosch part from sponsor. Problem better but not gone: awl on at low (900 -1500) rpm, off at rpms above.

Slow starting in September-- Lagging shut-off of awl on startup and rpm increase getting worse and matched by noticeably slower cranking power on start. Did full survey of ground wires and ground contact points, discovered fault in alt-to-block ground beneath alternator. Access to the latter ground point is difficult, so I ran a separate grounding line from an alternator bolt to the block... Problem solved!! awl off immediately after ignition, strong cranking power at all times.

November drive home-- awl comes on about 10 minutes into the 35 min drive home in cold and darkness. 10 min later the radio cuts out, 5 minutes later the lights are barely functioning and shortly thereafter the car starts to miss. I dive into a parking lot, sad to be stranded but glad to be off of the shoulder. A Good Friend helps me to swap depleted battery with fully charged and I get her home.

Pulled VR from rescued '88, brushes nearly pristine, no overt problem. Pulled VR from '93 in driveway, 105k miles and brushes worn but certainly serviceable (and charging in the '93 is fine), inserted in '88 alternator. awl kicks off on start, car runs GREAT, no problems whatsoever. Conclusion is that the July Bosch VR replacement was a dud, bad luck on my part. Vendor sends RMA tag, I'll run on the '93 VR until replacement arrives.

Thanksgiving eve, 45 minutes after leaving in laws' home on 5 hr trip home, awl rears it's ugly head, stays on unless rpms >3500. I'm in north-central Iowa on hwy 20, where exits tend to be few and far between, so I take the first available and drive into lovely Kamrar (population 347). I park along a street adjacent to a park that seems well-lit and perhaps suitable for an extended stay, should I need to leave the car for a while. I call my wife and she, with her sister in separate car for return trip, brings me her car to get me home (I have a day job, she's on vacation, but now I have her car).

I'm home now, my '88 is sitting in Kamrar, and I'm pondering my options and diagnosis. Re: the former, I'm probably going to rent a dolly, use the Durango to tow her car to the in laws, pick up the '88 and pull it back in order to work on it in the comfort of my garage. I actually have (yet) another '93 from which I could pull a VR and could conceivably get the '88 home on its own power but at this point I'm skeptical and a breakdown even further from the in laws and home might be cause fro divorce (or worse: a Saab-free existence!).

So now, for you dear readers indulgent enough to suffer the above, is my question: Is the alternator in the '88 somehow eating voltage regulators? I've nearly resigned myself to scavenging the alternator from the '93 (whose auto trans only works in 1st and rev) and using it to replace same in the '88, but I fear that I'm chasing a ghost. Are there other things I should look at to explain the (apparent) failure of 2 (and perhaps now 3) VRs?
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