i've read a lot of post here and have lurked from time to time. i have seen nothing short of good responses and i hope they keep coming as many of them have helped solve a few of my problems before i have had to post.

first off the car is a 96 na 850. i suspect the car to have over 300K on the clock. odometer stopped at 192. but i know what the original owner drove and what i drive so i figure it's up there.

anyway, i've done suspension, brakes and minor tune up (plugs, wires, distributer cap and rotor, and of course oil changes. the latest additions due to problems were bosch maf and a starter.

i just replaced my battery due to what i thought was a old battery and proven by the test machine at advance auto but it has since killed my optima that i use for my truck. i'm thinking the alt is about done but when i pull the pos wire from the battery the car continues to run. at least for about 5 mins or so then it will die. now, when i drive, i have noticed that the battery light barely comes on. real faint on the display. but the car drives fine.

before i shell out the money for an alt, could there be another problem causing this? i will test the alt output tomorrow with the ohm meter/amp meter/volt meter (what ever you want to call it) also i have wire brushed the copper connectors clean. they are spic and span clean. my idle has gone to crap as well. i'm sure that is a vacuum line causing that. i've changed a few and am sure a few more need replacing. what are the main ones to look for?

lastly and not least, i am going to order the timing belt kit from fcp groton as i am sure it hasn't been changed in a long long time if ever and an accessory belt. but what about the pcv valve. wait, this car doesn't have one. but the sytem! what does it do and how does it affect drivability? should i look there for replacement parts as well.

thanks for your time reading this.

 

oh yea, i changed the front o2 in the summer. it was just nasty. worst oxygen sensor i have ever seen. i know the car is running rich. i can smell it in the exhaust. when doing the dollar bill trick it doesn't suck my dollar up the tailpipe so i think my compression is ok. if you don't know what the dollar bill trick is, you hold a dollar up to the muffler and if it sucks it in then you have a compression problem. old school muscle thing. not sure it even works

 

ooops, need to add front O2 sensor to my replacement list...as for the PCV system replacement, i'm told you should get better gas mileage once replaced. Also, with the pressure buildup, you should see motor oil coming out of the oil filler cap and collecting under the spark plug cover and/or squirting out of the dipstick hole. On my 96 N/A 850, it collects under the cover

oh yeh, go to autozone, they have an alternator tester that puts a load on the alternator to verify if it is good or not. from what you have posted, i think it's gone though.

 

yes i do have oil collecting under the plate that sits on top of the motor. i'll start reading more about the pcv system and see whats involved

 

Check if the oil under the spark plug cover has dripped into the spark plug holes. My 96 T5 has needs PCV service and spark plug 2 gets full of oil once in a while. I can really notice it because the idle is bad and the mpg goes really down since one of the plugs is not igniting correctly. The car also runs rich...

 

the alt is a dead duck. how can i tell what model number i have so when i order it i order the correct one? other than removing it. i have to keep this oneon so i can take the car to my shop to do the swap.