2003 Ford Escort Question on an alternator/battery problem

Hey -

Thanks for the response. That's exactly what I thought the squeaking was. It's coming from the driver's side front under the hood. I had the tensioner replaced a year ago and I think it's just that the belt turning the alternator needs to be tightened. I'm not a mechanic by any means but I've never heard of any kind of filter that deals with electrical issues. The only thing I could find they're talking about is a filter that dampens the alternator because of radio inteference?

After I had it towed in, the shop called and asked what the problem with the car was because it was starting fine for them. I told them that morning it hadn't started at all and would just make a clicking noise and when idling, the lights would go almost completely out and the AC fan would go down to almost nothing. I told him I thought it was the battery but was concerned it might also be the alternator. He said he'd tested the alternator and it was putting out 14v. So he said he'd run more tests and an hour later caled back and said the issue was the alternator, that it was 'dropping out'.

If the belt isn't turning the alternator, that can cause there to not be enough power coming to the battery, right? And if it isn't held on tight enough, it won't turn correctly? Maybe I'm just armchair diagnosing but I think the price he quoted ($600) is way too expensive for what this problem is.

Any ideas?

Hey there -

I ended up replacing the alternator assembly and something called a PB filter. I have to say it runs now and doesn't squeak.

Now, there's another problem, hah, if you have any advice on. The car's always had a rough idle - either when at a stoplight and the car's in drive but stopped or sitting still. When I shift into neutral the idle gets smoother but there's still a slight vibration throughout the whole car.

It's now gotten so bad that even shifting to neutral doesn't help. Literally the steering column vibrates about an inch up and down and the entire seat shakes.

I thought it was the motor mounts so I ahd those replaced about 6 months ago but it didn't do much. The only thing that I can think of is before they replaced my alternator, my check engine light was on and the code was for a bad O2 sensor. Could a bad O2 sensor make the car idle this roughly? Since they unhooked the battery, the light is off now and I can't get the code to see which sensor it is. Would it be helpful to replace the sensors to correct an extremely rough idle?

Oh, I notice that when the AC is off, the vibration is't as bad either.

Thanks for your help.