Who will write the Eulogy? something locked-up, accessory?
 

Yesterday got in, turn signals would not blink. Then the mechanism would click like they were blinking when they were not, then it was Okay. Drove a few miles today. Stopped a light by my house, noticed quite a bit of smoke. Drove the block to my garage, almost there and.... REEEE CRASH CRASH (not sure how describe the loud unusual noise) and it died. pushed it into garage. Opened hood, lots of smoke. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Checked oil (more so to calm my nerves). Oil level good. WEnt in to turn on to check oil pressure, noticed when I turn key to the glow position, the relay makes a much louder than normal click. Turned car on, ran for a second or two then REEE CRASH CRASH and died.

Please help.

Alternator locked up?

How was the engine temp?

It sound like an accessory locked up.

Engine temp was fine. When I saw the smoke, I couldn't see how much there was, and it was white so I thought I should check my coolant level. But the temp was okay.

It's interesting you mentioned the alternator. When I first turned on the car, the lights would not blink. But after driving it they did what they should. I thought 'I wonder if theres a capacitor or something that makes that work'.

When I first turned on the car to come home, I noticed a very slight sound, but its was light - I thought maybe the hood wasn't down, or something was rubbing. It was higher in pitch but didn't sound serious.

Yup it sounds like one of the accessories is locked up and you are hearing the belt. Have some one look and see what's not turning or start removing belts.

I initially wanted to check to see what was going on in there, but it wouldn't stay on long enough for me to get back around and look. What is a good process of checking this? Remove belt, turn on, check?

I am afraid that after the engine cools, the accessory will unlock, and I won't be able to tell.

There should be a small black plastic box with some thick wires going to it on your passenger side fender. One of those goes to your starter and the other group goes the the battery/alternator. You can jump the starter with 2 screwdrivers by shorting those wires.

i can get it started, can keep it started :). Thanks for that trick though, I always wondered how people did that, didn't think about crossing two screwdrivers.

Be sure it is in neutral with parking brake set...
since this bypasses any neutral safety switch...
We had a guy die last year accidentally starting his tractor this way.. and it was in gear and rolled over him...

I am very sorry about your friend, I would not have checked that. Thank you.


Would the money be on the alternator considering the preceding electrical funniness?

Loosen or remove the belts. You can spin the alternator by hand when it isn't tied to the engine via belts. Same with the water pump and AC compressor.

And, when you do spin them by hand, you can easily tell if any of the bearings are shot.

In this case, the problem is going to be obvious. One of them won't turn at all.

Ralphie was on this early I'm betting. Nice job!
But having said that, I can't say much for this thread having a very effective title......:rolleyes:

Considering it locked up enough to stop the car, I probably shouldn't worry about the part cooling, and no longer being frozen?

Yes, just dive in there and get your hands dirty!!! ;)
Then report back. We are curious about these types of things. :)

Thanks for your help fellas. I am reading up to prepare for when it is light outside and I can get to work! drum rolll please

Answer
 

I tweaked the title, as this type of mechanical issue is fairly common.

Thanks Jimmy! I just happened to be on at the time. Reminded me of when that happened on my old '73 Grand Prix. Bearing on the alternator went out...lots of white smoke :eek:(not from spinning tires :D), and noise. When I got the car runnign again, I could see the alt pulley spinning in an oval. Belt was toast so I cut it and hit the local Chief Auto parts for a ne alt and belt.

This also happemed on the MB when the A/C compressor clutch bearing went out. Grinding at first, then smoke and sqeal, and broken belt, which managed to miss all the other belts, but managed to wrap around the clutch fan resulting in a very loud fan... That was fun...NOT!!!

:thumbsup2:

Thanks for the title change, I looked to see if I could do it last night.

Loosened up the alternator belt, and that turns freely by hand. I noticed that when turned to 'glow' the blower motor comes on ever so slightly regardless of what temperature setting its on. with the hood open I heard a pretty loud 'humm' coming from the alternator.

I just recently put the aux fuse in to get the blower working. I switched the dial all the way to blue since it warmed up. Now I have not tried to run the a/c in two years so my next guess is the ac compressor. I'm not seeing exactly how to loosen it, but I'm sure I could. Is there any reason I can't just cut that belt? (Need car soon, don't need a/c soon) Even if its not that and I can't get ac no loss.

No problem cutting the AC belt, it doesn't do anything else.

Success! I read in another post that even if the compressor is seized, if it is disengaged it will still spin. So I disconnected it, set the climate to hellfire, and the vehicle ran just fine.

I'm still going to cut it, just to be sure. Going to Michigan this weekend.

Now to find how to get the right tension for the alternator belt I loosened.

on the alt tension, loosen all three bolts (17 or 19mm) on the back side of the alt, then spray PB blaster, AeroKroil, or lastly, WD-40(if you use WD, let it soak a day or so...) on the 13mm funky looking bolt in line with the belts, then gently tighten it until the belts have 13mm of flex in them pushing with your finger in the longest part of the path. then tighten up the three back bolts. simple.

Recycled
 

for new members

1981 300SD. When the AC locked up, it killed the engine. I cut the AC belt and drove home fine. Replaced the AC a week later. If locked up, it will absolutely kill the engine.