How do I fix my car having a rough idle after replacing the alternator?
You're right to assume that something else going on. Because it is!Personally I'd check to see if the alternator is providing the right amount of voltage. it's not impossible to get the wrong part installed. and when I say that, I don't necessarily mean you chose the wrong part, but during the assembly line a part they grabbed while assembling the alternator could have been or of spec or something. Check the grounds. A lot of the time, over years of use a little sand blasting or sand papering of the hookups does help. while running the engine, disconnect the battery. A poorly performing battery can drag the entire system down. check to make sure your AC ain't causin' problems too. make sure the clutch is spinning or not spinning when not being used. double check the water pump to see if it was messed up. lastly check all your ignition wiring too. depending on the model year and brand, it might be chatty with obd2. if it's carbureted, obviously you won't get any feedback. if it is obd2, there might be information in there that can give you an idea of what's going on. so get a reader and check. also with modern fi engines, they'll run rough after a battery removal for a while. make sure your fuel economy hasn't been affected, if it has, it's a clear indication that something is wrong.
What happens when an engine gets seized?
Engine seizure essentially means that engine has locked or is frozen . In effect it is same as that of a locked rear wheel but in fact it is the crankshafts not turning in its main bearing.To understand what is seizure and what causes it ,one must first understand what is scoring. Between the piston and the cylinder walls there is always a presence of oil film(lubricating oil) that avoids the metal to metal contact.Now consider a situation when an oil film is temporarily missing. This causes a metal to metal contact and a scraping sort of action takes place.Now this causes little lining indents in the cylinder walls.The problem is not a performance robber until the oil film is resumed shortly.The above is a condition called scoring.Now consider the same situation only difference being the oil lubrication does not resume and this scraping continues for some time.After only a few strokes the piston and the cylinder wall start to draw material from each other.Imagine this metal drawn as a small ball which continues to grow with every continuing stroke.Then there is a time when it is significantly large enough to push the piston the other side generating large pressure on the opposite side of the wall where scoring initally took place till scoring starts at the other end of the piston as well.Now all this happens when your engine is running at its normal speeds.The final blow happens when this molten aluminium iron mix of ball accumulated due to metal drawn from piston and cylinder wall finds its way to cylinder ring and accumulates there.This is what causes seizure and the crankshaft motion is stopped.There could be many reasons why seizure can take place.Some being improper lubrication or dirt logging in the lubrication system. Other could be improper clearance between the piston and the cylinder walls.Some other reasons could also include improper heat dissipation from the cylinder and piston walls causing them to expand and change clearances.In most cases when if an engine defect is detected in scoring stage,proper steps can be taken to eliminate seizure.However,once and engine seizes that is the end of it. One needs to get a new engine in that case.
What should I do when I use normal water instead of coolant in a car radiator?
I’m very surprised, 7 answers and only one of them mentioned what I believe to be most applicable in the OP’s situation.Like Daniel Bumiller . said, since you said coolant instead of antifreeze, you are probably in a warmer region. But he failed to mention what Richard Widman mentioned which is that coolant also raises the boiling point of water.So here’s a complete answer:Freezing point - If you live in a freezing climate, water will freeze in your engine block, coolant reservoir, coolant passages and radiator.a. More than likely this will cause your expansion plugs (also known as freeze plugs) to pop out, which can be an expensive repair. The vehicle cannot be driven to the mechanic, it would have to be towed. b. Also, your water pump will be seized because of the ice, and therefore whatever is driving your water pump (whether it is your timing belt, external fan belt, serpentine belt, or drive gear) will slip or break.c. there might be other damage associated with this scenario, but I live in a tropical country. I have never had the experience or felt the need to study these effects.Boiling Point - Regardless of what climate you live in, a vehicle's operating temperature is usually higher than the boiling point of water. If the fluid in your cooling system starts boiling while you are operating the vehicle, several things can happen.a. air is introduced into the system. This can cause unreliable performance of the temperature gauge, inefficient cooling by the radiator, water pump damage, and possible overheating of the engine.b. boiling will also cause the water to evaporate, and your engine will overheat once sufficient water has been lost.Rust inhibition - the coolant is only part of the rust prevention in an engine, but important nonetheless. Improper grounding of the engine will cause electrolysis to occur, which will eat at your radiator core like acid thru steel. Good quality coolant also has the ability to absorb a certain amount of electrolysis. Along with the presence of rust inhibitors, it is imperative to use it for rust prevention.So there you have it, a combination of points gathered from different answers, broken down with explanations for each one. I hope you learned something new from this.Cheers!
What does it mean if there's oil in my radiator?
Means you have a leak between the oil system and the cooling system. Probably means you also have coolant antifreeze in your oil... check the dipstick for water contamination. That's a worse problem.This is bad and is a sign that the walls between the coolant and lubrication system have corroded through (from depleted coolant - too old) or your engine block is cracked from freezing or severe overheating. Both oil and coolant travel through passageways in the block and the walls between them can be thin. Another possibility is a head gasket failure.This is not a totally uncommon ocurrence I have heard, and to fix Head gasket is not too bad but the corrosion or cracked block will likely be expensive. Continuing to drive this way will eventually destroy the engine totally (it's not that far from there now, even though it may be running). The watery oil will foam and be ineffective. the metal parts will rust and eventually the engine will seize as the hole gets bigger and the leak worse.
What could be the cause of a car’s temperature gauge to fluctuate?
There are several possibilities.1) faulty teperature gauge. In this case the gauage will have to be replaced. This is relarively simple and inexpensive depinding on the make and model of the car.2) Issue with the radiator, coolant of the car. This could be caused due to insufficient coolant, leakage of coolant, damage to the radiator of the car. This will require extensive repair. In this case, it is advised to get the issue diagnosed and fixed at the earliest to avoid engine damage due to over heating.Hope this helps. :)
Can I drive my automatic car in overdrive all the time?
“Overdrive” technically refers to the existence (and use of) a gear that turns the transmission’s output shaft faster than its input shaft is spinning, so that the engine can turn more slowly to maintain a particular speed. Put another way, non-overdrive transmissions tend to have a top gear with a 1:1 ratio — for every one revolution of the input shaft, the output shaft turns one revolution, as well. Overdrive transmissions, however, typically have a high gear around 0.7:1, meaning that a little less than 3/4ths of a turn of the input shaft still spins the output shaft one full turn.In an automatic transmission, “overdrive” gear is just another gear, and the transmission will only shift into it when that’s warranted, based on vehicle speed, engine speed, load, throttle position and pressure and rate of change, and other factors.But if your automatic transmission gear selector has an “Overdrive” (or just “OD”) setting, you should generally use that for all normal driving. Towing might be an example of when you might want to not leave the shifter in OD.There is another aspect of automatic transmissions worth covering, and which is often inaccurately considered “overdrive” — a lock-up torque converter.A torque converter is sort of like a clutch — it’s a fluid coupling between the engine’s crankshaft and the transmission’s input shaft. In the old days, torque converters always “slipped”, so they were inefficient — they couldn’t achieve a 1:1 ratio. That was bad for fuel economy. In the late-1970s/early-1980s, manufacturers came out with “lock-up” torque converters that would physically connect the input side of the torque converter (the housing) to the output side (the stator) under certain situations — basically just light throttle, like cruising on the highway. Often, it’s this torque converter “lock-up” feature that is controlled by a button on a shift lever. And, normally, it, too, can and should be left engaged (so that it automatically locks-up when conditions are right). Again, towing would be a time that torque converter lock-up would not be ideal, because torque converters are relatively fragile, so it can make sense to disable the lock-up function.But modern transmissions and their controllers are adept at choosing the right gear and the proper lock-up status under any driving condition, so it should be better to just leave it in Overdrive and let the car figure out what’s best to do when.