Rut could go wrong? "Charging System: Service Now" fault & disabled Bronco from muddy good time

[Dom]

Yea, let me know how it goes. Would be interesting to try the can first to see.

23yrs old having fun and doing dumb shit. That's how we all should be at 23. LOL. Let us know if blowing it out works or if you choose an OEM or other alternator.

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[BRBUSTER72]

All good guys, Prairie City State Vehicle Recreation Area, provides long-term sustained OHV recreation opportunity. There are projects ongoing to stabilize eroded areas by reshaping slopes, and by reseeding and replanting bare areas. Vegetation creates wildlife habitat while plant roots help stabilize the soil. Project areas are temporarily closed to OHV use through the use of barriers, such as fences, hay bales, brush piles and signing. Where possible, well designed OHV trails are immediately provided through project areas. Other project areas may be closed for a number of years before being again opened for OHV use.

If this is an area meant for this use then I'm ok with it. Like I said, mudding is fun, just do it in areas where it is appropriate. Sorry, I should have been more clear.

 

[Arokcrwlr]

Mud sucks and I avoid it if at all possible. When I was younger, my buddies and I went mudding all the time and we had a blast. What I learned in those years is that mud gets everywhere and you can never really get it all out. It's hard on parts, causes premature wear, promotes rust, is terrible on brakes, etc., etc... I also used to be an avid duck hunter and mud was just part of the game - a lot of good memories, but give me rocks any day.

That being said, I love watching others send it and learning the lessons that go along with it. "Hey Vern, hold my beer!"

 

[telenerd]

Rule of Thumb from military survival school: Never stick any part of your body into any hole when you're not absolutely sure of what's in there. ... .. .

 

[Razorbak86]

Howdy, where is the alternator on the 2.7? I looked on mine and in the spaghetti I couldn’t find it.

Because it's down low. Passenger side. You can see it a little through the spaghetti or look through the bottom.

I had a hard time finding it too. It's on the driver side, very low. It's hard to spot especially with the fender liner in the way

See the diagrams below for both engines...

Judging by the height relative to the centerline of the crankshaft, the alternator on the 2.7L V6 engine appears to be mounted about 3"-4" lower than the alternator on the 2.3L I4 engine -- not materially different, actually -- and both engines have experienced alternator failures, typically due to mud ingress.

 

[Razorbak86]

So the moral of the story is don't "send it" It seems it's the pressure of the splashing water that seems to do it.

I wonder if you had a can of electro contact cleaner and dumped it in there if it would of cleared it out enough. Or even blowing some compressed air. jsut to get the water out and get you on the road again.

I just checked how much to carry a spare alternator.... and it's a thousand Moose Bucks....

Or carry a mallet.

The problem with mud is when the water dries out, it can leave behind dirt, sand, or silt, which can contaminate the contacts between the components, preventing them from charging at spec.

For a real-world example of this, see the following emergency alternator repair video, where a few taps from a mallet on the alternator case shakes out enough dust to improve the charging process.

 

[telenerd]

Dam that looks like a pain to replace. The whole front end has to come off just about.

 

[DaBronCo33]

Rule one of off roading never drive in water you don’t know the depth of.

Rule 2 of off roading: screw it, let’s do it

 

[Razorbak86]

Dam that looks like a pain to replace. The whole front end has to come off just about.

It's not that bad, but it is a pain if you don't have a lift. You can perform the work from below and through the passenger's side fender well. Shouldn't take more than an hour and a half max in a shop with a lift.

 

[Sparkherd]

Ya'll hit mud holes at 40 MPH?
I've done a LOT of mudding in Louisiana; never saw anyone do that.
Who pays for ya'll's vehicles?

 

[da_jokker]

So sounds like the Alternator (2.7) is hard to get to so even though I like the idea of spraying contact cleaner....could you even get to it enough to spray?

Also, noticed part #7...Generator Shield....guess it doesn't work very good.

Is it possible to have a shop modify the alternator somehow to make it more durable, and maybe even put out more power to keep up with the electronics on the Bronco?

 

[da_jokker]

. I think it really depends on how you hit the water.

I wonder if it's that, or what is IN the water?

 

[Donkeygyrl]

Know issue,take a look sometime where it is on a wrangler.

 

[AzGrrl480]

it’s not like we were running Willy Nilly all over in areas we weren’t supposed to. They rotate trail areas and maintain the entire park. The rangers even came and watched us for awhile .

 

[Wild Horses 4x4]

Mitch Chiming in with an Update: Looks like it's gonna be alternator pull day(hopefully today). I took my skid plate off and sprayed the mess out of the alternator with the electric cleaner. I disconnected negative battery terminal to reset the system. Then I went for a test drive keeping an eye on my voltage and I was running at 12 V for a while before it dumped to 11.6 Obviously that didn't work great.

I was hoping I'd get the easy way out, but it looks like there will be more to the story. It's doesn't look like an insanely hard unistall(hopefully I didn't just screw myself by saying that, right? haha) On the 2.3, it looks a little more complex. BUT enough typing, wish me luck!

Oh and you might as well enjoy the pics that that I got sacrificing the rig I'll post below

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