Ok Neon guys again...

NYSpeed Automotive
1

This car is a such a pain in the ass. Was working perfectly fine, then the gf said one night the battery light came on after the serpentine belt got wet. I checked it out everything looked fine, the light was gone, etc.

On the ride home she said she lost power but it drove fine to her dorm and now it won’t hold a charge after I use my jump box to start it, etc.

I assume the alternator is shot however its in a parking lot and I have only basic tools. I wanna take it to Advance Auto to get the battery/alt tested however I don’t think it will go because the battery is not being charged and is completley dead.

Any neon gurus wanna take the task of looking at it today with me?

Also how long of a job is it to get the alt off, from what I could see the alt is on the bottom it looked like shouldn’t be hard to swap if thats the case.

Anybody want to help with this task/know how much an alt at the junkyard probably is? New from Autozone/Napa/Advanced was quoted cheapest at 180 and that seemed pretty steep.

2

Sell it and have her buy a honda:). nah for real tho if you need an alt, try skyway junkyard on tift, M+M u pull it, or south buffalo auto on elk.Ive have good experiences with skyway and southbuffalo and i kno that they have neons there.

3

now the only question is someone baller enough/have the tools to swap it in a parking lot?

4

When the alt died in my car, I jumped it and ran like that for two days, If you charge it, it will go to where is best for you to work, I defenitly shouldnt have drivin it as long as I did, but If your just trying to get ot you garage or somthin you should be OK, dont use heat lights ext, I even staoped ussing my signals, Good luck.

5

I have no battery charger, my jump box doesnt have that option and its in a parking lot = no power outlets to charge.

Also I have no garage at my apt and she lives in the dorms.

6

Check the connections to/from the altinator, make sure they are not loose/corroded also.

7

Connections looked fine, but I also was using a flashlight/street post. Ill check em again today in daylight Devin, and see if they are ok.

8

bump really need this done before Tuesday. anybody?

9

to get the alt off you need to take off the coolant overflow bottle and the intake box thats over the exhaust manifold. because it wont fit out any other way.
i think your going to need 10mm, 13mm and 15mm sockets and an extention
your going to have to loosen the tentsion on the ps/ac belt. should be 2 13mm and 1 15 bolt on the ps
loosen the tentsion on the alt with the 13mm. then unbolt the bottom bracket. should be 3 15mm bolts
if it was warm out i would say maybe half hour to a hour if there is rusted bolts
but being cold as shit out… hour and a half or more

check all the connections first. they usually get corroded with it being right on the bottom. the battery light will come on if the alt belt slips for too long. check the condition of the belt and make sure its tight

10

^^ thanks for the heads up. Seems simple enough however all the neon specific sites I’ve looked say its a PITA and takes a few hours!?

11

If you can get it somewhere warm I would give you a hand. NO way am I gonna lay in a parking lot when it is single digit temps. You shouldn’t ether, it’s really not a good idea.

12

Unless someone has a power inverter & battery charger it is likely to not move. The battery is completely dead & in a parking lot where there is no power outlet to charge the battery.

If someone has a battery charger (not a jumper) and a power inverter then we can move it anywhere warmer.

13

Ok started today with Joe and this job is a pita, not to mention the car is a pos… anywho. Tomorrow morning to finish.

:tup: to Joe for helping out / doing the work.

14

did you inspect everything first? or just start to pull the alt. off?

15

wait wait wait youre doing this in a parking lot?? in feburary?

i suggest you take the battery out. charge it on a trickle charger (i have one you can use if you want to drive to hamburg, maybe someone closer can help) and drive it to an autozone to make sure it is in fact the alternator. well at least thats what i would do instead of working on a car in a parking lot in february…

16

It was about 30 yesterday and 40 today, weather isn’t a problem.

Inspection found the belt shredded in the front. Joe noticed its a relatively newer alt already in there, I assume once we get it out the pulley probably is messed up (maybe)

But yeah it’s sitting right now awaiting final touches. Anybody got some hands later or tomorrow morning? This needed to be done today but unseen events had a set back.

17

Neon’s don’t have serpentine belts :stuck_out_tongue: The harmonic balancer will have two belts on it (assuming it has all of the accessories still), and the timing belt is in the cover.

Anyways, did you ever consider putting in another battery for the ability to bring it to autozone, and let them test it? They can tell you if its the alternator, a bad ground, or a wire.

I’d check the factory ground points. No matter what, good or bad, remove them, sand them down, and put them back on. Wash the battery terminals off with water and baking soda, and then re-tighten them. Then, check to make sure the engine - chassis grounds are good.

Then, check the belts, there should be 2 visible, so if there arent, then a belt is thrown. Pulling the alternator is not too hard, its only held on by 2 bolts. Just loosen the tensioner, pull off the belt, remove the 2 bolts, remove the alternator. If you get it out, you can bring it to advance auto and they can test it on the machine, to see if its good.

Finally, check the wires going to the alternator. There is a power wire, and then a 2-wire plug, that controls the external voltage regulator.

That should be enough diagnosis and fixing to take care of everything buddy.

–mark

18

Aight ryan, im feeling alot better (throats alot less sore, fever has broken) so ill gather my tools and if you need it, my battery charger

you just need to bring a flashlight, or, if you can find an outlet, and extension cord and ill bring my worklights we can get this shit done tonight

19

[quote=“neonglh,post:17,topic:24348"”]

Neon’s don’t have serpentine belts :stuck_out_tongue: The harmonic balancer will have two belts on it (assuming it has all of the accessories still), and the timing belt is in the cover.

Anyways, did you ever consider putting in another battery for the ability to bring it to autozone, and let them test it? They can tell you if its the alternator, a bad ground, or a wire.

I’d check the factory ground points. No matter what, good or bad, remove them, sand them down, and put them back on. Wash the battery terminals off with water and baking soda, and then re-tighten them. Then, check to make sure the engine - chassis grounds are good.

Then, check the belts, there should be 2 visible, so if there arent, then a belt is thrown. Pulling the alternator is not too hard, its only held on by 2 bolts. Just loosen the tensioner, pull off the belt, remove the 2 bolts, remove the alternator. If you get it out, you can bring it to advance auto and they can test it on the machine, to see if its good.

Finally, check the wires going to the alternator. There is a power wire, and then a 2-wire plug, that controls the external voltage regulator.

That should be enough diagnosis and fixing to take care of everything buddy.

–mark

[/quote]

1 belt was chewed, already got the new alt, and belt and the old ones almost off, so might as well since its already coming off.

But yeah thanks for the advanced troubleshooting lol.

20

[quote=“ImportMuscle,post:18,topic:24348"”]

Aight ryan, im feeling alot better (throats alot less sore, fever has broken) so ill gather my tools and if you need it, my battery charger

you just need to bring a flashlight, or, if you can find an outlet, and extension cord and ill bring my worklights we can get this shit done tonight

[/quote]

Would need a power inverter to power off of a car 12v port…