[stick]

My alternator on my "new" SE seized up on me earlier this week when I fired the car up. The belt nearly caught on fire...there was so much smoke. The smell of burning rubber caught the attention of a couple of my neighbours. It was actually kind of embarassing. LOL

I tried turning the pulley with a wrench, but it won't budge. Is it possible to fix this? Or am I just better off buying a new/refurbished one? Just curious if anyone else has dealt with this before.

 

[ComposiMo]

Generally they don't just 'sieze'... there may be something stuck in it, like a rock or something. May be worthwhile to pull it out, and look at it closely to see if you can diagnose the problem... maybe even open it up and see inside of it.

Not sure how much time you want to invest in it though cause they are fairly cheap to replace (depends on how you value your time), but worst-case scenario, you go to the store, use it as a core for a new one and put it in. regardless, it'll have to come out anyway.

 

[Krix]

mine did this once. it was making a slight whistle every once in a while for a few months but i couldnt figure out what it was. then i was on my way to work when the charging light came on so i turned around and my car barely made it up the hill home. poped the hood and burning rubber, smoke, and metal shavings flying out of the alternator :shock: . I just bought a new one :lol:

 

[crxfisher]

Actually that happened to me too on my old DX. It was the middle of winter, freezing cold outside and I had let it sit for about a week. Came back from a winter vacation and the car wouldn't start. It was so close, but I just kept turning it over and we couldn't tell why. I had a friend out there with me, and we decided to just keep cranking to see if it would fire up. We figured it out, but not before frying the starter. Had to go buy a new alternator and starter. That was about 6 years ago when I knew zilch about working on my own car. The alternator was completely seized. Weird.

 

[stick]

Ok guys. Thanks for the tips. I'll take it out tomorrow and take a closer look at it. If I'm feeling motivated, I'll rip it apart. If not, I'll just get a new one with my next paycheque.

 

[bobski]

Unless something got wedged in there or you've got some obscene corrosion, the only thing that could really sieze are the bearings. There's a possibility that the heat generated by the failing bearing damaged the alternator (melted the insulation off a wire or something), but that should be obvious once you look around in there. If it's just the bearing, majestic sells them for about $16 each.

 

[KAOS]

when i bought my newest crx. the alternator was siezed up on it. i knew i had a spare D-series alternator laying around. well i found the spare. but it was also seized up!! so i took some PB blaster and socked the alternator. and it broke it free. i threw it on with a new belt. and no more then a day later the belt snap'd. i made sure the alternator pulley was moving(which it was). so i bought another belt. and no more then a mile up the road after putting it on. the belt SNAP'D!!! i then just bought a known working alternator w/ a belt from a friend. and replaced it. it's been working just fine.

 

[crxgator]

if you lived in the US id hook you with my phone number for a free one from autozone under warrenty

 

[stick]

Well, I took it out, and took a good look at it. I'd say it's time for a new one. It's pretty gross looking. Corrosion and rust everywhere. From what I can tell, it's the original Denso alternator that came with the car, so it's been living on borrowed time anyways.