Alternater Woes

[KennyCoe]

Hello,
I figured I would pass this on so someone else doesn't go through the headache I just went through.
I used to own this PT Cruiser and sold it to my wife's best friend. Since I am -ahem- intimate with this car I still do the repairs on it. The battery light came on so I tested the the battery voltage with the car running then with the car off getting 12.5vdc running and 12.7vdc off. OK I figured the car had a bad alternater so I had the owner pick one up and I installed it, which is NOT an easy job. I got the car back together and I still had the same problem. I did some research and read my Haynes so I checked all the fuses and the fusible link and the relays. Everything checked good. It was throwing a 0622 code. OK it must be the voltage regulater in the PCM so I picked up a reman PCM and installed it. Still no joy. So I pulled the alternater again and got another one under warranty and replaced it. Again no joy. It has to be in the harness, even though they hardly go bad. When I peeled back the braided sheath from the wires going to the plug at the alternater, there was one wire broken and the other with just a few strands still intact. A 25 cent fix. The wiring harness was riding on the inner CV boot of the passenger side axle. It didn't chafe through any other wires and the wear on the braided sheath was barely noticible while looking at it. I used some spare wire I had to tie the harness up and away from the boot. This harness also goes to a the oil sensor and more. Sorry for the long post but I thought it might save someone some time and money. If I hadn't done the work my friend would have had a huge labor bill on top of the parts bill. I hope this helps someone.
Kenny

[CREWZIN]

Kenny,

Thanks for the post. About two years ago I was driving back home south through South Carolina at 11pm when the CEL light came on and my PT came to a halt. Long story short I was towed to a Chrysler dealer the next morning where they diagnosed a bad Cam Sensor. A $200 fix. What could I do but say yes 500 miles from home. Up on the rack the mechanic found that the wiring harness from the Cam Sensor (held on by a .02 cent clip) had broken loose and hung so low that it touched the spinning half shaft on the passenger side and burned the wires. He wired it up and with 2 hours labor I was on my way home. I've never touched it since.