[joeh944]

The belt that drives the alternator and a/c compressor has disintegrated. The shop that works on my car is about 60 mi away. I would like to drive the car to the shop, rather than having it towed. Anyone know if I can drive that far with no alternator, assuming the battery is fully charged when I start and I do not operate lights or any other electrical accessories? The specs for my battery (an Interstate MTP-91) indicate 875 amps / 700 cold cranking amps. The battery is just over a year old, so believe it's in good condition. Thanks.



Joe

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[DaveN]

Intersting question and I would love to know the answer. My suggestion is that, given positive input, that you bring a spare battery and wrench in the passenger footwell just in case you don't quite make it.

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[lbpesq]

Way back when, I remember reading that you can replace a broken belt with a stocking or a pair of pantyhose tied around the pulleys in an emergency. You might want to give it a try.



Bill

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[Cloud9...68]

60 miles is pretty far. I was in a similar situation to you several years ago with my 968, and I had to drive it about 6 miles to a shop with no alternator, and that was no problem. I don't know about 60, though. My gut feeling is that that's too far to take the chance. Of course, if you don't make it, you could always get towed the rest of the way. Does your insurance cover towing?

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[Kim]

I drove my car about 145 km a few years ago when the alternator died. Just turned off all the accessories and it seems to be OK. I had just driven it about 200 km so the battery was likely fully charged when the alternator failed. So charge your battery overnight.

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[Cloud9...68]

Hmmm... Interesting. So apparently it is possible to go a fair distance on battery power alone (sounds like I'm talking about the Chevy Volt...). Good to know. But in addition to charging your battery, I'd make sure you have my insurance or AAA card with you.

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[ds968]

Consider ourselves lucky we still drive 92-95 cars.. a lot of newer cars ( even my 03 MBZ, for example ) because of all the

"smart" <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> integrated electronics will essentially shut down the car right away if your alternator brakes down.. one volt drop and you're stuck My MBZautomatically went into low gear drive and turned off all instrumentation except the speedometer ( ironically that's the only thing I did not need since I could not drive the car more than 25 mph ) the moment the battery started to show the first signs of losing charge..



I like the panty hose idea though.. " honey, I swear, the panty hose you found in my car are not someone else's , it's a spare alternator belt, in case of emergency " <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[lbpesq]

It could actually come in handy, especially on a date: "Honey, the belt broke. You gotta take off your pantyhose" <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

i would not want to risk the ECU by doing that - it's not a good idea



as for how long it can go, that depends on a number of factors - the tip takes more power than a 6 speed - what accessories you have on will affect it - how old the battery is will too, as well as the size and model - even how high you rev the engine, as the higher the revs, the more current is needed for spark



20 minutes is probably the longest "safe" run - no way i would try for 60 miles

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[968Z]

Interesting question in cost-benefit analysis. Is it worth taking the chance to drive it vs. towing? You have to assign a value to the PITA cost should you make it 50 miles instead of the necessary 60 miles. To me the PITA value is far too high to even chance it.... Murphy's Law and all....

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[Chris Vais]

I can tell you from experience, whem my alternator failed it chose to do so on the way home from work, at night. I shut everything off and the car ran for about 20 minutes before it started to badly misfire at which point I parked it and called AAA.

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[williamoss]

I carry AAA Plus which allows a tow of 100 miles costing $100. Now they even have a new way to get your money which offers 200 miles towing called premier and cost $145 per year. Both have something call plus RV or Premier RV and will tow your RV up to 26 feet. I don';t have an RV so do not know what it costs.

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[tamathumper]

If my RV dies, I think I'd want it towed more than 26 feet...

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[shepherd32]

I have extensive experience with this as there was a time when I went through about four voltage regulators due to a short in my alternator power wire to the battery. So I drove my car (6-speed man) around all the time with no alternator. I had a newer optima red top battery and with that, I would make it about 100 miles on a full battery charge during the day and about 60 miles at night because of the headlights. I carried a battery charger with me and planned on staying for at least 2 hours wherever I went to refill my battery. On a side note, I would be inclined to think that undervolting the ECU would not damage the unit, it just shuts off eventually. Overvolting it will fry it however.



I used my voltage guage as my "other" gas tank meter. Full charge it read 12V, I would run it until about the 10V mark or so. When the ABS light comes on on the dash, the ECU will be close behind and it's time to turn it off before you lose spark at highway speed in gear.



If you start the car only once and it's daylight out, 100 miles is not out of the question with a full good battery. If you turn the car off and start it more then twice, expect that distance to half at least. Also, the car will have a very hard time starting with less then ~10.5V or so. Also, the radio (stock) use makes little difference in range, just don't use the hvac or the windows much, especially dont use the rear window de-fogger. In an emergency, most gas stations have a plug somewhere on the outside you can hook up a bettery charger to and refill your range, especially at night. It didn't bother me that much to tell the truth, just had to remember my radio stations as I was constatly unhooking the battery. I still use that same battery now 2 years later and it is as strong as ever.



My ex-gf managed to kill a full battery in 8 miles by starting the car with the defogger, ac, and headlights all goin full blast. One of many times she informed me my car was broken.

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[flash]

it really comes down to the battery. the reserve capacity is the biggest factor. also realize that every time you kill a battery it loses 5% of its ability to take a full charge. what you have turned on will dramatically affect how long it will run. the rpm you run the engine at will too. the higher the rpm, the more current drawn.



there is a very real reason this car comes with a 115 amp alternator, where older cars were 50-65



15-20 minutes is probably a safe bet. after that, you have to start looking at the other factors.

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