Hi all, At the end of my last drive I noticed that the alternator light was on. I parked as usual and hooked up to a trickle charger. When I started out today, the car was fully charged per the green light on the charger. The alternator light was on again and the engine was running hot. Not up to the red but close. Made me think the cooling fans might not be running. Any thoughts?
Your alternator is not charging. You need to fix that first. Then diagnose the hot issue. It could be simply since your alternator is not putting out enough voltage, the fans can't keep the car cool at idle or in traffic. I would assume engine temps are okay while moving?
Yeah, they drop down when the car is moving. When I first noticed the light on I turned off the fan and ac and the alternator light went back off. I guess it's putting out a little juice. Thanks.
Does the alternator belt drive the water pump on that engine, if so is it tensioned enough. It was seperate on my mondial so i am not up on this engine
Got the f355 back from the dealer. New alternator. The switch that turns the cooling fans to a higher setting when the a/c is activated was also broken. When the alternator light came on, I turned the a/c off to decrease power consumption. Unfortunately, that broken switch completely turned the cooling fans off with the expected result. The switch had probably been bad for a while, but the a/c is never normally turned off. Well, no harm, no foul (except to the wallet). Just an interesting twist.
Your battery tender is green. But the battery could still be week causing low voltage under a load. My batt does just that. Any signs your battery is on the weak side? If so put a new batt in. If you still have charging issues then start looking at the regulator and or alternator. You can buy for really cheap a cigarette lighter plug that has a little led voltage indicator so you can see voltage real time whilst driving. Good luck and report findings.
The radiator fans are only single speed. But the A/C does influence the operation of the right side fan (along with the Motronic coolant temp sensor), as I believe that is the side with A/C condenser. So yes, if the A/C is not activating that fan, you are losing one side, which would definitely cause overheating. Left side is activated by the thermoswitch screwed into the left radiator near the top.
