Battery or Alternator?

[Aaron]

OK, so on the way to the movies the other night, my battery light came on, the brightness of the light differing with the throttle (light coming on at lower rpms (below 1500) and then fading out at higher RPMs). Then went to take a friend home yesterday and it was very low on power. I could barely see my headlights and the climate control thingo was turning off and on.

So I chared the battery last night and it hasn't lost any charge so far today, which leads me to belive it's the alternator, but I'm not sure. Anybody care to give me a second opinion?

Thanks,
-Aaron

 

[LOUDSHO92]

Well I dont know if you have a stereo system but it sounds like your alterantor is going out. Hopefully you also cleaned your battery connections because that plays a good part in powering your car.

 

[jcostantino]

Take it to somewhere that has a free diagnosis and have them test your charging system. I would wager that you need a new alternator though. Same symptoms as mine when my alternator died.

Jeff

 

[Aaron]

Yea, that very well could be. My amp pushes about 600Watts RMS. I'll just have em replace it when I get my valve train looked at. Probally have em' put in some UDPs too .

-Aaron

 

[jthomas68]

With the car running,disconnect the battery.If it keeps running,it`s the battery.If it dies,it`s the altenator.

 

[Off Road SHO]

It's not a good idea to disconnect the battery while the engine is running on the newer style cars with electronic control. The battery as a filter, sifting out all of the high spikes (and lows for that matter also)that the alternator put out.
If you have an amp-probe for 12 volts, clamp it around the heavy guage wire that attaches to the alternator. If you get any kind of reading, the alternator is putting something out. Might not be enough though. Snao-On makes a nifty little gauge with a groove on the back of it. You place the groove over the wire in question and if there is any current moving through the wire, the needle in the guage points in the direction of travel.

Tom

 

[jthomas68]

I`ve never had any problems on the cars,or motorcycles.It would die immediately if the alternator was bad,no time for problems to occur.Of course that`s just me.

 

[Mans442]

95% sure it is the alternator. Mine just died, and it was overcharging.

Prices:

$140.00 at Autozone with core
$200.00 at Napa w/ core

You may do better but this is where the prices generally land. Buy it before you are left stranded.

Jason M.

 

[Aaron]

Like **** I'm driving it like this! I rode my bicycle to work today!

Oh well, tomorrow is pay day so I'll be doing well. Pretty soon. I'm waiting for a quote back from the garage on what it'd cost to fix my valve train, get and install a new alternator and install the fuel pump I'm gonna get from SPmotorsports.

-Aaron