Coolant system affected by a bad alternator?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

So, i have a 1996 honda accord, i just had a new alternator put on yesterday. Well before then, when the old one was still in the car, my car would heat up while i was sitting still and it was drinking coolant and water like crazy!!! I was thinking that maybe i was having a head problem, but i didnt see any tell tale signs of coolant leaking over into the oil. So, today was the first day i drove to work with the new alternator on, i filled it up with coolant before i left for work, i drove 20 minutes to work and 20 minutes back home. The temperature gauge never moved above the middle line, even when i was at a sit still with the car on. I checked the coolant level after the car cooled off, and it was still pretty full. Could a bad alternator effect the performance of your cooling system? Im by no means, complaining about this, i am very happy my car isnt heating up abnormaly anymore, just curious was the alternator my problem?

2

If the alternator wasn’t able to keep up with the demands of the vehicles electrical system, the radiator cooling fans may not have come on while you were sitting at a stop causing the vehicle to overheat.

Tester

3

and if the alternator bearings were bad also putting more load on the engine BUT where was the coolant going when it was running too hot? Nobody said. It should have gone into the reservoir but you had to add coolant so was there a puddle or steam or…?

4

are you running the ac these days. a faulty fan switch is suspect as it is bypassed when the ac is on.

5

If the alternator and water pump run off the same belt it’s possible the old belt was slipping and was tightened properly or replaced with the alternator.

6

It would be a serpentine belt with a tensioner would it not?

7

The water pump is on the timing belt I believe.

8

Don’t mean to bring back old threads, but I had this same question with my '05 Accord V6 and google brought me here.

Just changed my alternator yesterday and surprisingly it still has coolant after 2 days of driving.

I’m still going to have it checked out for leaks, looks to be a bad heater control valve at least, as I thought that was the only and main reason for my low to almost empty coolant in reservoir issue.

Now wondering if a bad alternator was also another part of that problem, not to mention the whole battery killing thing.