Is my alternator dead

[Tony]

Driving to work on Wednesday morning only been in car 5 min then all of a sudden my stereo went off and all my headlights went dim and all my lights on the dash went dim. Then the car started to stall and lose power.I was crawling to a standstill then all of a sudden all my lights came on and the car shot off like a bullet.I then stopped to get a paper and turned the ignition off,the car was only left all of 2 min but when i come to start it nothing was happening totally dead!(i thought this could of been the battery but my lights and clifford alarm was still working.) I tried to start it again still nothing apart from a ticking noise from the starter motor.(i thought this may have been the starter motor jamming) Anyway i left it & walked to work went back to it later & it was still dead! Got my mate to jump start it with the jump leads and it was ok for about 5 min then cut out! Tried it again and it was alright all for Wednesday nite and all of Thursday. On the way to work this morning it conked out on me again with all the above happening. Jumped it again to get home but only just it was stuttering on acceleration. Turned the car off when i got back and tried to start it back up again but dead!

One thing that hapened today is when the car was idiling i turned all of the lights on radio spots etc etc and the revs went really low and stalled.

Its gotta be the Alternator aint it? Or battery? Any suggestions?

How much would i be looking to pay for a recond or new alternator?

Tony

 

[BRUN]

you can get the battery tested at loads of places for free

if you live anywhere near St Helens bring it to me at Motor World and i can test it in 2 minutes tops....

 

[DAVE77]

Yep, sounds like its dead to me.

If it was the battery, the alternator would provide all the power you need for all the electrics in your car.

You should be able to get a recon one for about £60. you might aswell change the fanbelt while youre getting it done.

Dave

 

[Tony]

Na mate im from Birmingham!

Ive took out the battery and tried to charge it but the battery was totally shagged out! Wasnt taking the charge at all, So hopefully ill get a new battery and all will be sorted.

 

[MaLicE]

but it could be that your alternator is shagged and has just discharged the battery to many times, thus killing the battery as acid batteries only discharge a couple of times before they wont charge again, that is why u should buy a nice gel cell deep cycle battery.



like the multima exide i just bought



oh and if ne 1 tells u dont bother with gel celll batteries cos they cost loads, give them a slap from me, put it this way if u get a liquid battery i.e same as what u have or even if u upgrade to a diesel batt u still have to top it up etc and service it, a gell cell is 0 maintanence, and if it does go flat take it out the car and stick it on a cold floor overnight, the next moring u will have enough charge to start the car.

 

[u33db]

Quote: Originally posted by Black16v on 12 September 2003





Driving to work on Wednesday morning only been in car 5 min then all of a sudden my stereo went off and all my headlights went dim and all my lights on the dash went dim. Then the car started to stall and lose power.I was crawling to a standstill then all of a sudden all my lights came on and the car shot off like a bullet.I then stopped to get a paper and turned the ignition off,the car was only left all of 2 min but when i come to start it nothing was happening totally dead!(i thought this could of been the battery but my lights and clifford alarm was still working.) I tried to start it again still nothing apart from a ticking noise from the starter motor.(i thought this may have been the starter motor jamming) Anyway i left it & walked to work went back to it later & it was still dead! Got my mate to jump start it with the jump leads and it was ok for about 5 min then cut out! Tried it again and it was alright all for Wednesday nite and all of Thursday. On the way to work this morning it conked out on me again with all the above happening. Jumped it again to get home but only just it was stuttering on acceleration. Turned the car off when i got back and tried to start it back up again but dead!

One thing that hapened today is when the car was idiling i turned all of the lights on radio spots etc etc and the revs went really low and stalled.

Its gotta be the Alternator aint it? Or battery? Any suggestions?

How much would i be looking to pay for a recond or new alternator?

Tony

When my alternator went, a light on the dashboard came on. Not cheap to fix unfortunately . TBH, i think it must be something else on your car - if it was the alternator, the battery would have discharged long before now and it wouldnt loose power and then shoot off etc..... Think id stick it into a garage for diagnostics....

 

[Tony]

I changed the battery over the weekend and all seems fine now, But ive had the Orange ABS light come on and wont go off. Is this cus i disconected the battery?

Another thing if i disconnected the battery should the car carry on running?

 

[DAVE77]

Yeah, if you disconnect the negative battery lead, the car should keep running because the alternator should be providing all the electric your engine needs to keep running.

A guy showed me this trick when I had my Nova SR

 

[wado]

To test if your alternator is working correctly, turn on the engine, the lights, the blowers, and the radio. And put a multimeter across the battery to read the voltage. It should be reading between 12 - 14.5 anything over and its overcharging. If its under its undercharging. If not it could be something else. Also check the belts.

 

[Alex M]

take a voltmeter reading on a cold crank (i.e. while turning it over) if it drops quickly down past 11v then battery is kaput.

Would not recommend anybody disconnect thier battery while engine is running, asking for trouble that, too many expensive electric components can be damaged like this (ECU being prime candidate)