[eurocrisp]

IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

this has happened a few times now, increasing in frequency along with my growing charging system issues. I hope theyre related.

Where I live there's a large steep hill on the highway that I encounter pretty often. about a week ago I noticed that while exiting thick traffic on the hill, prolly around 45mph, i downshifted to third to begin gaining speed and at about 4000rpm's the secondaries closed (surge, then lack of power, slight change in intake sound). Got off my exit and verified that indeed the secondaries were Not opening. I turned the car off and back on and theyre working like a champ. Same **** happened today elsewhere, under heavy load, in 3rd gear again as a matter of fact. The first time this ever happened I was racing a buddy of mine and got damn close to the rev limiter a couple times. Whenever I do that I also get the battery light to come on.

Im thinking the voltage is dropping and the IMRC is like, 'ugh... not enough juice' and defaults to a safer off position till i restart the car. my battery light comes on sometimes at about 5krpm and my lights / dash have begun flickering on the highway. Do you think that'll do it? or do i need a new IMRC too?

 

[Fett]

RE: IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

Get a new IMRC, they don't seem to last that long.

I am looking into WHY they go out, electrical problems seem to be the likely culprit though. Either way, just replace your IMRC, you will be fine.

 

[MaStaMooN]

RE: IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

This was the exact same problem I had with my IMRC.. new IMRC fixed it right up. Happened before and after my alternator went.

 

[eurocrisp]

RE:IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

its been good so far for the past few days. Ive tried to make it close since and it hasn't.

My lights dim in and out real bad at ~3100rpm's, voltmeter says at that RPM the voltage jumps between ~15v and 12.8v. with the car off the battery reads 12.6v... so its not just charging less, its flipping between charging and a NO CHARGE state... and above 3100rpm's, everything STAYS dim to about 4k. I can feel the dip in power pretty significantly.

Took my car to the local joint today and they said they'd accept my warantee company for repairs, so im getting a new alternator/regulator, piece of wiring harness, full car diagnostic and a checkout of all the grounds for my $100 deductable :biggrin:

Taking it in at 8 in the morning, should have it back by about 5pm tomorrow. Fresh hot spark should do me good for mileage/performance. Ordering new motorcraft plugs too.

 

[eurocrisp]

RE:IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

augh!!!

Many angry faces!

'Smart Choice 2000', my 60 month 100,000 mile warrantee provider is in the advanced processes of filing for bankruptcy. Ford said they don't even want to call them.

so how hard IS it to change out your alternator?

 

[MaStaMooN]

RE: IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

the biggest PITA in changing your alternator is trying to get the bolts loose. Breakerbar is helpful!

 

[eurocrisp]

RE:IMRC 'turning off'? heavy driving, i can feel/hear the secondaries close.

ive got nearly every automotive tool known to man at my disposal, im just lazy, plus I like having soft hands for teh ladies :naughty:

headed to Autozone now to buy their $171 piece that GMK has. My dad knows electronics like nuts so we're going to diagnose it tomorrow between the alternator and fuse/relay box and then from the battery to there and this and that. Hopefully itll be the voltage sensing line and not the alternator itself. i think those are whats unreliable, leaving people to change out 2 and 3 alternators within a year. having trouble finding the post i was reading before on the subject, and someone who fixed it rather easily without a new alternator.

edit: i wish those were real 'boobs.

 

[eurocrisp]

(Thursday, October 23'rd. 1:56pm. It's 48 degrees in my garage. im not looking foreward to this, but it may not be so bad.)


whee!

 

[RhythmsDJs]

Let me know if you need help, I just went through a bunch of alternator hell and ended up with an Autozone alternator. Also, check fuses 2 and 7 in your fuse box near the battery, it may be a part of your problem. I'm on AIM all day too same as my screenname here, so hit me up if you need any help.

 

[gamiller]

swapping alternators is easy. just be sure u know whether to get the alternator that bolts up vertically or horizontally. BTW, cheapest alternator i found was from JK Auto Parts.

 

[eurocrisp]

see the end of this thread

 

[eurocrisp]

wow id hate to be a grease monkey for a living.

got it mostly bolted down, got the L bracket on and the bottom bolt on no problem. The top one's still a little loose... not sure how to get at it properly.

Also, got it in there and realized I hadnt hooked up any of the wiring, and now i cant even see where any of the plugs are cept for the main power line.

sigh. going back down to work in an hour or so.