About how long do alternators last normally?
 

Well my engine has been making a humming sound for quite some time now and I thought maybe the valves weren't adjusted right... sometimez when starting the car, the vehicle idles very low and dies off when switching from reverse to drive... unless i gave it gas. The problem cleared up after the engine was warm and it would idle fine. recently my car has been making strange sounds like and more humming, it kinda sounded like loose change was tossed under the hood. I check the battery Voltage on the VAFC it used to average 14.7 Volts, last night it was running at 11.8 volts and the battery light (red light) was on when I was driving. this morning it was running at 11.4, 11.2, and declining to 10.8 and my radio would cut off and on. i luckily got to work, when my lunchbreak came, i got in the car and the car barely started, and the voltage began declining slowly and hit 10.2 and the speedo/rev needles dropped, and once i Hit 9.8, the car wouldn't accelerate or respond to pressing the gas pedel and that was that.

so only thing it could really be is the alternator right?

Check cables first, belt, then battery, then probably yes, the alt.

Average life on an alternator in my experience is 15 years/175k.

Checking at the battery with a multimeter, you should see ~12.5v with the car off, and 14.5v running.

Definately sounds like an alternator problem.

the loose change problem sounds a lot like an alt. problem. But always check the easier stuff first. When my HO alt. went, it blew the magnet up on the inside. Sounded just like the loose change you said. It was pretty cool. It was like a small grenade going off in a cast iron case... it took out most of the coils.

you can alwayz take the car to a local shop or :) Autozone and the like for a free check on the voltage of the alternator!!

Battery Cables were checked, the battery is new, and the belts are tight to specs with no slipping. Removing the alternator from my car is a bitch, you have to drop the suspension n stuff to pull it out or take off the intake manifold to remove it =/

wtf is your car then. better yet, what is your alt? mine is much larger than the stock civic ones, but i could remove it and replace it by pulling it from under the car. if you dont already have one, pick up a repair book... you shouldnt need to remove anything to get the alt out

I looked at the Haynes manual... i've tried to remove the alternator before and it won't come out unless u take off the Intake Manifold or drop some of the suspension components. 00 civic ex

ive never heard of going through that much bullshit to get an alt off....you sure youre doing it right sweetie?

intake manifold on top of car, alt on bottom of car:oh:

when i took my stock one off, i removed the splash guard. i learned i didnt need to, but it helped me see everything. other than maybe the guard, you seriously shouldnt need to remove anything else

I just had to remove the bracket on the alternator