juichilol

i was driving home from the gym, and my 09 is250 started to have difficulty steering, and i noticed on the dash it had a red steering wheel light and an exclamation mark. next thing i know more lights came up (sorry couldn’t take a picture). got close to home and pulled over to the side. car suddenly wouldnt start so i figured it was the battery (sorry im stupid). i tried disconnecting the battery and waiting to connect it back but nothing. i got the new battery and when i started it, i saw the engine is smoking. when i got home, i tried looking for the smoke and it is shown on the pictures below. i’m not a car guy but was wondering if you guys know the part or what the issue is. thank you

Cienfueg69

, it could be the alternator diodes shorted out and burned up.

MikeFig82

iTrader: (13)

Have a look at this link below: Like mentioned above it's a sure sign of a failed, or failing alternator. I'd recommend a remanufactured Denso OEM, or New Denso. It's a PIA to service. I went with an cheap local autoparts first time around. The alternator went out again about two years later. I sourced a Reman Denso from RockAuto.com. No problems since the new install.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ispreloading=1

juichilol

when i was driving home from the gym, i was at the stoplight and a red steering wheel icon with exclamation mark showed up. and i could barely turn my steering wheel. after a few seconds of driving, a couple of lights popped up as well on the dash. so when i got close to home, i pulled over to the side and turned my car off because it was hard to turn. tried unplugging the battery for a bit and then after that i tried turning the car on and it wouldn’t turn on. dash was lighting up and my center console and some stuff but it wouldn’t crank and wouldn’t start. so i figured it was the battery that was dead. got a new battery, waited a few minutes and it finally started. we saw smoke coming out from the engine but i couldn’t tell where it was coming from. so i drove it back to the garage and when i looked more, the smoke was coming from under the oil cap and around the area where the alternator is at. it was white smoke, didnt smell like coolant or gas. i left the hood open to let the smoke out and when i was about to start the car, no power 😀. even though i got a new battery and drove it back home. please help.

TopNotchIN

@juichilol From the information you have provided so far, I think the responses above are correct. Here's my theory on the issue. Your new battery had enough power to start the car when it was first replaced, but isn't being charged so it's only using the power it has stored already. That's why you could start the car after changing it. Since the alternator isn't working, it isn't charging the battery so there's not enough power to keep the power steering rack functioning as well. BUT.....why is there coolant everywhere? I'm wondering if your water pump has gone bad. The bearing may have failed and the pressure in the cooling system has caused it to spring a leak. That may be why there's coolant all over the radiator cap, overflow reservoir cap and all over the front of the engine area. That could have caused the alternator to fail because it's right next to the water pump. The water pump is spraying coolant on the alternator which in turn caused that to fail as well. I would suggest not trying to drive the car and having it towed to a trustworthy mechanic. If the water pump has failed, you could risk damaging the engine by trying to drive the vehicle. I'm not sure where you are located, but follow Mike's advice and go OEM by getting a DENSO alternator. Though I bought the cheapest option from RockAuto which was FVP and haven't had any issues for years and it had a lifetime warranty. If you need the water pump too, the factory uses an AISIN pump. You can buy an AISIN aftermarket pump for cheaper than the dealership and it's the exact same part. HOWEVER, your water pump could be absolutely fine. If the alternator went bad and the alternator pulley seized up it could have caused the belt to stop spinning. That belt is driven by the engine, but it's connected to the A/C compressor, water pump and alternator as well. So if the alternator is bad and kept the belt from spinning it may not be driving the water pump. If that's the case, then the car may have gotten hot, overheated and caused the cooling system to boil over spraying the coolant everywhere. If you have a friend who is mechanically inclined they can remove the serpentine belt and check the pulleys on the water pump and alternator relatively easy. Anyways, keep us updated on the outcome and good luck!

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Your new battery w a full charge finished incineratating the shorted rectifier diodes in the alternator. Very unlikely the cooling system had anything to do with this failure even if it sprayed the alternator.

OP - disconnect that battery and charge it before its ruined. i.e. leaving a battery discharged ruins them even if new as the failed alternator is draining it, hence the white nasty burned electronics smell.

Yodog

my alternator just went out myself. Just over 200k miles

juichilol

thank you guys for all the help! it was the alternator. old battery and new battery ended being dead as well so i had to get another one. so far its driving good.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

I tried to warn ya.....

If ever there smoke from electrical, remove power to stop further damage. This one never should have been powered up w a new battery before being diagnosed. Especially with a smell that makes no sense.

At least your car didn't burn down.

GL