Alternator belt breaks...car will go how far on battery?

[Richard]

Was replacing a belt over weekend. While busting one of my knuckles on a no-see-em, my mind went back to my college days.

Driving my 442 (1971 convertible) back to school. I was a couple miles out of town and it was dark, headlights on.

All the sudden, my dash 'idiot light' came on and I KNEW I had just lost my alternator belt. The car was running fine and I knew I was living on my battery. As I was a couple miles out of town I kept driving figuring if I didn't make it, I'd rather have my car stranded near town than out of town. I made it and all got fixed.

So, that got me wondering (and I know there's no exact answer)...

If you have a healthy battery and your 4 or 6 or 8 cylinder car is in general good upkeep and you blow a alternator belt (forget the reality that many belts today power other items)... how far might an 'average' car travel on battery before it dies?

 

[SnowRidge]

Many years ago, I was a passenger in a car that lost its alternator. We drove it about fifty miles, as it was getting dark. The owner would turn the headlights on only if he absolutely had to, when there was other traffic that might not have seen us otherwise. Other than that, he kept them off.

We expected to get stopped by the police, but we were never spotted. The alternator was shooting sparks when we got to his house, and the engine was starting to cut out badly, but we made it.

The owner and driver was one "Jungle Jim Lieberman." You may have heard of him.

 

[dbdartman]

Lost a water pump/alternator belt on a 66 Charger once on I-95 in Maryland once. Being day time & having points ignition, I wasn't worried about the battery, but was very concerned about over heating. Luckily it had a fixed fan (not a clutch fan), so running at 75-80 moved enough air through the radiator to keep the water pump moving just fast enough to keep from heating up too much. Made it to the next service area about 20 miles down the road where I grabbed a new belt & installed it in the parking lot. The rest of the weekend in DC was uneventful (except for the hangover Sat. morning... ).

 

[texbaylea]

A few summers (mid July) back we were in Houston and were having seeming battery problems. Had to jump off a couple of times. We left the motel, stopped at an IHOP, then drove through Houston on the freeways, all the time running the AC full bore. We were in a Suburban with two evaporator units.

We got about 50 miles out of Houston when I realized what was happening. I shut down the AC, opened the windows (electric) and managed to get about another 20 miles to a small town dealer. After a 5 hour wait and a financial hosing we were on our way with a new alternator.

What is so embarasing is that 2 days before I bought one of those auxiliary
battery packs and did not even think of hooking it up. It had one of those double ended lighter plug cords and could have been plugged in. That would have been enough juice to get me back home where I could have fixed it myself at one third the cost.

Vernon

 

[the_sandman_454]

Not very far in a modern vehicle, especially if it happened at night when you needed your lights on. Older vehicles without much in the way of electronics could go for quite a while. The computers are fairly sensitive to voltage and that is what's most likely to shut the vehicle down even if the battery still has some juice in it. Not to mention (I know you said exclude it) the darned serpentine belts that also run the waterpump. At least this is what we found when the alternator went out on a friend's Cavalier (fuel injected).

 

[Richard]

The owner and driver was one "Jungle Jim Lieberman." You may have heard of him.

That's not by chance the same "Jungle Jim" up in Fairfield, Ohio???

If so, this is a freaking SMALL world as my hometown is Hamilton!

 

[RonMar]

It depends on the vehicle I guess. An older auto with a mechanical fuel pump and only a need for spark/ignition could go a long ways in the daytime without the need for lights. A newer machine with EFI and electric fuel pump would not go as far.

One summer while moving from AK to NY, I drove my 83 Toyota(carbureter and mechanical fuel pump) from the Columbia River Gorge just above The Dalles OR, where the alternator quit, to Missoula montana. Wife was following along in our other 86 Toy truck(EFI). The few auto shops I stopped and checked along the way had no part on the shelf. We got into Missoula right near sunset and camped overnight(which was our original plan). I found one on the shelf in town the next morning. Swapped it in the parking lot and continued on our merry way toward upstate NY. We could have swapped batteries between the vehicles to keep going if we needed to along the road, but the 83's battery worked well and the truck started and drove normally all thru that days fuel, autoparts and food stops and the next morning to drive to the parts store in Missoula. I don't think the 86 with it's electrical demands would have done as well.

 

[Knotbored]

I had a generator go bad at the top of Snoqualmie pass (WA state) all electical was totally dead. A highway patrolman (a comassionate one) gave me a 10 minute charge, told me to drive fast without headlights, and I drove that ole 62 Econoline all the way home to Yakima-about 100 miles I think.
Ahhh the good ole days- nowadays I could call road assistance whew!

By the way-that cop also told me a nylon sock can be tied into a temporary fanbelt if that had been my problem (would have been more fun to break a belt and find a sympathetic matron instead.)

 

[Skyco]

Had an alternator croak on my Ford F350 diesel while towing my toy hauler. I actually had a spare alternator behind the back seat as I knew this day would come. But I put on my thinking cap and fired up the built in generator in the toy hauler and let it backfeed the truck through the charger line. Made it the hour to home then replaced the alternator Beat changing it out on the road in the heat...I was still at 11.7 v when I pulled in...doubt I would have made it without the help from the trailer.
PS- the alternator died after a weekend of heavy winching (huge battery drain) on my remote property...hmmm.

 

[SnowRidge]

That's not by chance the same "Jungle Jim" up in Fairfield, Ohio???

If so, this is a freaking SMALL world as my hometown is Hamilton!

The driver and owner was Jungle Jim Lieberman, the pro drag racer, now sadly gone.