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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
I must say, I can take curves much faster than before without hearing a squeal. In fact, today I thought I would hear a squeal around this one turn and prepped my foot to hit the brake, but ended up not having to. She kept her line.
The cause is believed to be the alternator, but some have reported that the OEM replacement eventually suffers from the same malady. However, others reported getting a 3rd party alternator with success. If this is still true, what brand would be a good replacement? How hard is it to replace the alternator on one's own?
TIA
Won't make much difference since the alt is connected directly to the bat.
Once the car is running the alt becomes the electrical source for the car as it has a higher potential difference, around, 14 votls, (aka voltage), than the nominal bat voltage of 12 volts.
the problem occurs when the regulator gets stupid and momentarily stops/resets.
In this instant, the output of the alt ceases, and the loads quickly drags the operating voltage down to the bat level of 12 volts. After the alt resets and kicks back in the voltage rises to the regulated voltage of around 14 volts. Tada, a flicker. Due to a 3 to 4 volt change. I have witnessed this on my scope.
Tying in at the bat makes no difference as the alt/bat wire is just a wire so that what ever happens on one end will happen on the other end. Unless, of course the wire is hundreds of feet long, which results in a substantial measureable drop across the length of the line (aka line load), but that is not the case here.
The flicker is directly due to a drop in voltage due to a loss of the primary voltage source and if it wasn't for the batteries stored energy the drop would go to zero and then the car would go berzerk.
Evandro. The last time mine turned into a strobe light, I removed and cleaned the smaller ground wire leaving the bat and bolting to the frame about 8 inches back of the bat. Has not reoccured. since. Have had 3 alts and cleaning this ground connection has resulted in the longest successful repair yet. This ground wire is the return path for the headlights.
But it wasn't clear from your very good post whether the issue was with the alternator or with the regulator. Is there something that trips in the alternator?
This would be different than the normal dim due to increase in load, that one might see if for instance "you turned your blower from off up to max. in one quick motion." It appears that a condition appears outside the regs. normal parameters, such as repeating spiking which results in the reg. having a seizure of sorts
This all sounds weird since you would think that after 75 years of designing alts and regulators that they would have figured it out by now.
Evandro if you feel enthusiastic there is a g201 ground connection from the headlamp relay and the headlights module/switch. This connection is not exposed to the weather and is located at the base of the steering column. You will find two wires connected on the a wedge shaped casting that protrudes from the left of the columm support bracket.
Anyway, picked up a pair of the Bosch Micro Edge... Put them on when I got home and once I got the flashlight trained on what I was doing, it took literally ten seconds to attach. What a difference, even over the OEM blades. No chatter, streaking or flip-flop. They ran me about $11 each - easily 2 1/2 times what Tricos would have cost, but I've had nothing but problems with Trico blades over the years.
My biggest problem so far with the snow we've had is that the wipers kept icing up and then freezing while parked. Try wiping with a blade that won't flatten out!
Got the correct 22 inchers - gas station had installed 20 inchers last year, so now I get to see more.
Deke
I haven't seen any wiper that holds the blade to the glass at the extreme lower right(at rest). Even the OEM pieces don't completely wipe all the way down.
My main concern is that the previous blades jammed up with slush/ice and were ineffective. The Bosch are supposed to be more resistant to that. I've found that a few cycles on the highest speed will fling off accumulated slop, but watch out if you're driving next to me!
With all the innovations made in the past 100+ years, it's strange that there has been nothing invented to replace 90+ year old wiper technology! Seems like it's always been a rubber blade across the glass.....and will always be.
Deke
The Anco that I usually use has 8 points of pressure and follows the contour of the windshield better. There are two kinds, one in a yellow package and another in a blue one. Both have the same number of articulations, but that in the yellow box has more play than that in the blue box, which I prefer. The price is about $5 each of the yellow ones and about $8 each of the blue ones.
I tried the Bosch wipers because I thought that by having fewer articulations it would be able to follow all the windshield, but I was mistaken. Not only it leaves more of the far right unwiped because of fewer articulations, but it doesn't wipe as well as the Anco.
Unfortunately, I'm cheap and will put up with it until it starts screeching, a sign that it's the time for new wipers...
;-)2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
She had forgotten to turn the wiper switch off.
So, as the defroster began to melt the ice on the windshield, the wipers began to free themsleves, but before something "broke".
The bottom line is, the wiper motor still appears to be working fine, but whatever connects the motor to the blades either broke or came loose, so the wipers don't move at all, even though I can see the motor going around.
Any ideas, on how difficult this is to fix? Thanks.
-Do you just hear the motor?
-or do you see under the plastic air inlet grille that the motor crank is turning?
-Or can you see each wiper arm drive shaft turning? Where it comes through the air inlet grill
the problem is that if the motor is turning then it can be any of three things.
1. The nuts on the arm drive shafts where loose and have now stipped the splines. Retightening might be sufficient.
2. The gear is broken/stripped/loose at the motor crank. Where the motor connects to the mechanism arms under the air inlet (Gm calls these arms and pivots the wiper transmission, ). Could be motor crank or motor gear. Crank would be cheaper than the motor. LOL
3. The gears inside the motor are stripped. Sorry
Good luck
The KIA Sorento also has the "electronic wiper defroster" (salesman's words). No one could ever state whether it worked when you pushed the defrost button, or if it was automatic when it sensed ice buildup.
Deke
1) I had to replace my front sway bar as it had broken. My car is the Autobahn version which I believe has a slightly larger diameter sway bar than others. Why this broke is not obvious but since there was no specific incident involved, I believe that it was metal fatigue. Cost for the part was $123 and another $100 in labour.
2) Front wheel bearing needed replacing. This is a complete hub assemble which I purchased on ebay for $85 and my mechanic installed for another $84. Dealer price for the same Delco part was $400.
3) I have a very slight engine oil leak which my mechanic diagnosed as requiring a new oil pan gasket. The gasket is only $37 but apparently it is a big job to replace it, requiring 4.6 hours of labour. This repair is not deemed necessary at this time as the leak is quite small.
4) There is also a slight leak on the power steering rack unit. Again the leak is small enough that it does not require any immediate action at this time.
To quote my mechanic, "I am glad people like to buy domestic cars, it keeps me in business. I prefer to work on Honda and Toyotas because they are designed well but they don't require repairs as much!"
Still I am well pleased with the Intrigue although I am realizing that this 6+ year old will continue to need the occasional repair.
And I did.
29 months and 52K miles with the Impala has passed and I started having trans probs today.
Solenoid is bad.
$1160.
I also like the experience of talking with the actual mechanic doing the work and not a service writer.
One of the tires was getting particularly noisy over 40mph.
Also wondering what a bad wheel bearing sounds like. I've heard the noise goes away when you turn left if it's the right one and right if it's the left. Is that true?
Is it noisy at all speeds? What does it sound/feel like.
Thanks.
To buy the part on ebay I just looked at a few auctions, checked out a GM part site and finally showed the listing to my mechanic. The GM part number for the hub is 12429204 and the A/C Delco part number is 20-17. My ebay auction number was 2446114805.
Good luck!
You can grab the tire with both hands a shake back and forth or just push on it with your foot and you will see movemnet.
I think this is the reason my front tires had a improper wear pattern. The bearings had probably been bad for a year.
If I had know I would have taken it in and had it fixed under warranty.
As for 5 speed vs. 4 speeds, I am not so sure that the increased fuel economy is worth the added complexity. I have a 5 speed in my Passat and find that it shifts into fifth gear too quickly. Then almost any touch of the gas causes it to upshift (with an accompanying very slight hesitation). I actually prefer the way the 4 speed Intrigue transaxle drives in this one aspect. Given my experience, I am not very excited at the thought of a 6 speed transmission.
My understanding of the 6 speed is that it is a few years off. I believe the C6 Vette is supposed to have a 5 speed slushbox. And even if it comes with a 4 speed automatic, who in their right mind is going to buy a Corvette with an automatic:)
Merry Christmas all!
The passat is probably downshifting more because it is a smaller displacement engine with less torque than the Intrigue or my Impala neither of which downshifted or hunted for gears.
As far as shifting to the next gear early all the new cars are doing this.
Both CTSs I drove shifted into second half way into an intersection which really made the car feel sluggish.
The sprot mode solved that though.
Also there is some confusion on transmissions here.
The 5 speed made in German by Getrag is a GM design. it is used by BMW and Cadillac in the CTS.
This is a REAR WHEEL DRIVE TRANSMISSION!
There is a RWD 6 speed underdevelopment.
And a FWD 6 speed under development.
Thanks very much for your input.
Happy Holidays!
On the subject of wiper de-icers: my wife is ordering a new Forester Turbo with the Premium package and it includes the Subaru All-Weather package which has the wiper deicers, heated seats and mirrors, etc. It seems to be a nice, safe vehicle and should serve her well.
The Intrigue Autobahn package is nice but I discovered an excellent replacement tire for even better grip and handling. The Bridgestone Turanza Z Revo tire in the OEM size is perfect for this car. Both wet and dry traction is exceptional and deep snow has never posed a problem. The OEM Goodyear RS-A was a very poor choice for this car, IMHO.
One more thing; poor radio reception. I read recently that window tinting with metal particles (bronze, silver) will block radio signals and degrade reception. I have light bronze tinting on my deep green Intrigue and can vouch for the poor performance for certain FM stations. The tint is starting to look old so it is coming off if I keep the car. Merry Christmas to you all.
A milestone was reached with the Impala on 12/23.
300,226 Impalas were built his year. 45,000 more than last year.
Sometimes there are no posts on that thread for 3-4 days!
I think it goes without saying that the Intrigue engenders more enthusiasm than the Impala does.
Merry Christmas!
That the announcement of Oldsmobile's extened death was announced.
There were 99 posts on this thread that day.
I still maintain it was a huge mistake by GM, and when you look at how Saturn in particular is struggling these days while the remaining Olds models continue to sell despite zero marketing, you have to wonder.
This will be the last Christmas that Olds will still be alive, as by this time next year no more new cars will be built under that name. Time for Auld Lang Syne...
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6