alternator death

[wmc2004aug at bellsouth.net]

At 09:41 AM 4/30/2005, David Pertuz wrote:
>How long have I got once my no-charge lights (battery+brake) come on to
>tell me that my alternator's not charging? This happened on the way to
>work Friday and I was a bit worried about making it up there and then back
>(~30 miles, ~40 minutes each way) without the battery dying, but I have
>been ficne so far. However, I really have little idea whether I can get, say,

I had one die years ago (1994 ish??) when I was on a really low
budget.  Opted to order new bearings from Nissan for a DIY rebuild, but
they wouldn't come in for a week.

I drove on just the battery for a little over a week.  I was driving about
12mi / 20 minutes into work, and was able to pull inside and put it on my
charger.  I would guess that was running it down to about 60% each way on
the commute.  There are lots of little things you can do to extend the
battery charge...  eg:  Do Not keep you foot on the brake at a light - use
the hand brake.  No tail lights and thus less battery drain.  Obviously you
don't run the radio or blower.  The head lights will kill the battery in
short order;  they probably pull as much as the other stuff combined.

Also "deep discharge" on a lead acid battery is really bad for its
longevity.  But I had a fairly generous warranty from AutoZone  ;)

    -Wayne    '93 SE-R / '93 NK2k / '90 Miata