Battery or alternator? HELP!

[rpmshotimeeh]

Okay so i was driving to my girlfriends house last night and my stereo just shuut off along with the eatc and the clock so i turned off the stereo and then i shut off my headlights and when i rolled up to the light before hopping on the highway i just threw it in neutral and reved it solid at like 1500rpmsthe course of the whole light. The eatc turned back on along with the clock but then it started to dim again so i got on the highway (in the dark with no lights) and took it through its paces which seemed to help it out. When i got to my girlfriends i shut it off and popped the hood disconnected my power wire from the battery and was like mm that was wierd. When i came back out it was trying to turn over but just couldnt so i left it there a few towns over from my house. Now i havnt been able to look at it but what do you guys think the problem is? I am personally leaning towards the battery dude to the fact that when i had the motor moving good it seemed to grab a bit of a charge. ---Oh by the way both the battery retard light and the abs light were on--- So i dont know what is your take on this?

sidenote.i just replaced the battery and alternator both around this time last year.

 

[HighRev85]

Okay so i was driving to my girlfriends house last night and my stereo just shuut off along with the eatc and the clock so i turned off the stereo and then i shut off my headlights and when i rolled up to the light before hopping on the highway i just threw it in neutral and reved it solid at like 1500rpmsthe course of the whole light. The eatc turned back on along with the clock but then it started to dim again so i got on the highway (in the dark with no lights) and took it through its paces which seemed to help it out. When i got to my girlfriends i shut it off and popped the hood disconnected my power wire from the battery and was like mm that was wierd. When i came back out it was trying to turn over but just couldnt so i left it there a few towns over from my house. Now i havnt been able to look at it but what do you guys think the problem is? I am personally leaning towards the battery dude to the fact that when i had the motor moving good it seemed to grab a bit of a charge. ---Oh by the way both the battery retard light and the abs light were on--- So i dont know what is your take on this?

sidenote.i just replaced the battery and alternator both around this time last year.

That sounds so familiar. The same thing happened to me. The positive post of my alternator (inside, going from the middle to the outside) broke loose and would only make contact above ~1500 RPM due to the centrifugal force on the post. When it did make contact, it would arc and overcharge the battery. My guess would be the alternator...but it's something you want to fix quickly, because your battery will suffer while it overcharges/doesn't charge. I ended up taking the alternator apart and re-saudering the joint...now it works quite well.

Hope this helps!

 

[93rev2sev]

Alt failure. Batt is ok cause you started it.

 

[95azSHO]

I 2nd ALT failure, had this happen to me about 3months ago. On another note check the condition of the cables if they look crappy replace them. $25 at Auto Zone total for new cables can save you another headache. Length is something like 56" for pos 61" for neg.

 

[rpmshotimeeh]

Okay so heres an update on this...i yanked the battery and charged it and limped it home then parked it and this morning i started it up and took likea 20 minute ride and the bat light kicked on as well as the abs light. so i took it home and parked it in my driveway and it again had no clock, the wipers were like skippn cuz they hadnt had much power and the eatc was blank. so i turned on the radio, headlights with high beams, wipers, hazzards and it was noticably suffering and after a bit died. the rpm guage still was at 1krpm but it was off and i hit the disarm button and it kept beepin until i turned off the lights then when i turned em back on it was gone again. I had both the alternator and the battery tested today and they are both good... lol any ideas because at this point im completely clueless.

 

[dpsutphin]

Follow all the cables from the battery and wires from the alternator for their entire length. Chances are you will find one that has a bare spot that is contacting something metal, causing a short and/or constant drain on the battery.

Good Luck.

 

[rpmshotimeeh]

another update...i swapped in a new alternator and threw a full charge on the battery and also threw my voltmeter in and its all good its reading perfect so i think i have fixed the problem.

 

[95azSHO]

Did you check your cables? If so what was the conndition?