1996 Chrysler Sebring Power Loss on Sebring Converertible

RONQ

MEMBER
1996 CHRYSLER SEBRING
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
20,400 MILES

I experience what I call power loss intermittently. The car will lose power and depending on how bad it is the car will jerk. As time goes on it is more frequent and severe. Last month it was so bad the car would barely run and the head lights dimmed to the point they were almost useless. Same with the dash lights. It finally corrected itself before I reached home and ran fine for a couple of days. It is starting to do it again. Any ideas?

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 AT 2:43 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,330 POSTS

Based on your description of intermittently dimming lights, and on the high mileage, I would suspect worn brushes in the alternator. You should also see the voltage gauge drop on the instrument cluster when the problem occurs. If I'm right, it will gradually happen more often and for longer periods of time. There are a lot of computers on your car. They are very sensitive to low voltage and will do strange things when that happens. Also, the fuel pump will run slow and the engine computer will get confused easily causing poor engine performance.

The brushes can be replaced, but most people just replace the entire alternator. The best way to determine if it is indeed a bad alternator is to take a series of measurements with a voltmeter while the problem is occurring. One measurement you can perform yourself is to open the hood and measure the voltage between the two battery terminals. Knowing that value when the problem is acting up will be a good start to help your mechanic in his diagnosis.

Caradiodoc

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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 AT 2:08 AM