my alternator is whining and garage says it is on its way out. the warranty will not replace it until dies. question is how can i fry it without damaging the van and computer in it. we do alot of travel each weekend and do not want to get stuck in boonies.
Where did you buy this alternator from? I want to make sure I don’t get one from them! A bearing going out is a defective alternator! You won’t get any one here to tell you how to sabatoge a part. Thats not what we are here for. If you want to fix it replace the alternator from a diffrent source and then go to the store that you bought the bad alternator from and ask them for the area managers name and number, not the store manager, and call them to complain about your issue of this warranty.
it is not new. warranty is on van. i just want to fix it before warranty runs out. if i did not have warranty i would just replace it right now but why spend money when it is covered for failure.
Put as much electrical load (headlights on, blower on high, AC on, rear defrost on, seat heat on, cigarette lighter in use, …) on it as you can and hope for the worst.
There are quicker ways to kill it by doing some internal damage to the alternator, but then “they” might detect that.
Given that it is a 2003 vehicle I have to assume that this is some kind of aftermarket warranty. Those are notoriously bad, so I don’t know how it works. But for quality warranties if a problem is reported and documented during the warranty period, that should keep an issue as a warranty issue even past the end point. That is tricky and I wouldn’t bank on it if it is an aftermarket warranty.
As tardis said, overloading is what kills them fast. You can put a barely charged battery on it and make the alternator charge it up - or run your battery down (which won’t be great for the battery). Alternators aren’t supposed to be used as battery chargers.
This is only theorizing what I might do. I’m not recommending anyone actually do this:
Get an in-line fuse holder, a 15A fuse and some thin (16-20) gauge wire.
Disconnect the negative then positive battery clamps from the battery.
Put a rubber glove etc. over the positive clamp so nothing can touch it.
Unplug the multi-pin connector from the alternator.
Attach the Negative clamp to the Positive battery post.
Attach one end of the in-line fuse and wire to the Negative battery post.
Touch the other end of the wire to each of the multi-pin connector tabs on the alternator.
Be careful of sparks. One might blow a fuse or two in this process.
This will surely blow out the alternators’ internal regulator.
Remove the Negative clamp from the Positive post.
Re-attach the alternator connector.
Re-attach the Positive clamp to the Positive post, then Negative to Negative.
An alternator fuse in the fuse box might blow.