While driving back from lunch, my power steering went out, then the battery light, then the abs and dsc lights, then more lights. Since I didn't want to get stranded, I turned it off at 5 mph and roll started it to see if that changed anything, nope. I got back to my office and parked. Gave it a good looking over, checked the battery cables and the intake/exhaust areas of the engine since I just finished a bypass valve and header install so I'm skeptical that's affecting it. I then tried to restart and got nothing. That's all the info I have to go on so far as I sit here at work. I'll have to test w/ a voltmeter when i get home, which I'm hoping I can make with a roll start. It's a bit over 9 miles.

I've seen a couple older posts and from what I can tell it certaily supports my alternator theory. The only other possibilities I figure are a battery that's so dead it drains on alternator, but this seems way too sudden. Or the power steering pump failed and shorted out. I wasn't planning on doing the 15%pulley for a while, but now I've got no choice I'm afraid. What's the best option for remanufactured alternators? I'd like this new one to last 111k miles as well.

 

A dead alternator does not prevent a car from starting up. It sounds like your battery is dying.

 

A dead alternator can make the battery drained. If battery lamp was on while the engine was running, it looks more likely dead alternator.

 

True but a dead alternater will turn a good battery into a dead battery pretty fast. (Which will then not start the car)

 

Possible crank pulley failure....it will result in the same lights...keep an eye on you coolant temp. If it is just an alternator failure, the temp will be fine...if the pulley is shot...you will be lacking power, and start overheating quickly.
9 miles with a dead alternator, nomproblem unless your battery is pretty bad....just jump the car, and let the cables stay connected for a couple of minutes before the start to partial recharge the battery.

 

If you car started to have issues within a few minutes of an alternator failure, the battery in the car is junk....some racers run a car on just the battery on some cars to gain power....with a low electric drain, you should be able to drive a good while with a failed alternator is the battery is good.
How old is the current battery?

 

PS-oem batterys fail so suddenly, a few folks have walked into a store, and then 15 min later were unable to start....

 

Dead battery or almost dead battery doesn't turn on the battery light. That lamp comes on when the battery charging current is missing which means
1. alternator is dead
2. Alternator is not rotating due to missing belt
3. system power is on but engine is not running
4. Not sure about MINI but voltage regulator is dead
5. ..... etc.

 

Update, more evidence that points at alternator. I charged it fully with a 4a trickle overnight. The battery now reads 12.5 volts with the car off and 11.8-12.0 volts with the car running. I assume my powertrain warranty won't cover this, but I'll make sure before I purchase. I do need to know what brand is reccomended. Rock auto has 5 brands ranging from $200 to $460. They are Remy, BBB, Denso, Bosch, and ACDelco. Any input on brand quality?

 

Denso is the OEM (on the S)....it is usually considered to be VERY good....over-engineered...it not only does the job, but lasts for a long time very reliably...heck, you got 110,000 out of the last one!! It is a very common make on Asian brands...Honda, Toyoda, etc.
How many domestic with the delco/remy get a new/rebuilt one every 70K...

 

Cool, thanks. I figure I'll order the idler pulley and powerflex tensioner bushings as well (already have new belt and 15% pulley). I'm torn on a new tensioner, but I'll probably re-use the stocker. New tensioners are just under $100, so I might get that with new bushings just so I won't have to remove the serpentine belt for anything for a long time. I'm not sure if the old pulley with new bushings is as good as new or not. Now I just need to find a local belt removal and pulley puller tools.

 

The part that fails on the tensioner is the gas strut part....so getting new bushings for it will help if the bushings are worn, but the gas strut could still fail, or be soft from a bit of leaking.

 

Don't forget a tensioner (safety) stop