Car dying, what's going on?

[kevyrev]

The battery light on dash usually comes on right before car dies. I suppose I should go ahead and change the battery cables. My son said it was getting hot when his friend hooked jumper cables up backwards the other week. At least I can rule it out but I'm going to test the alternator output with my meter when I get home.
Do I have to remove the manifold to get to the positive battery cable connection. Can't seem to get around it.

[ryanprins13]

I might be able to check after work but i am 99.99% sure you dont have to remove the manifold. On my one festiva i have the wire from the alt to fuseable link tied up to not touch anywhing because it was shorting.
I dont see in here that you replaced the battery. The battery light should be on for quite a while before the car dies with a good battery. If your battery has an internal problem or short it will do this.
Battery light should come on around 13volts. Does it come on with the battery fully charged, car off and key on?
Starting at 13volts with no alt input the battery should be able to run the car quite a while.
Ive had the charging light come on while i was driving, i pulled over and wiggled wires until it went out and the alt started charging. The car seemed to run fine until that happened. With no headlights and radio i would guess you should be able to drive 15min with no alt before you would start having problems.

My guess is either a bad short thats not bad enough to blow the fuse or a bad battery.


Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[ryanprins13]

I just posted this in another thread and thought i would copy it here as it may help you.
Because it comes back on randomly it could be a loose connection somewhere in the wires that signal the alternator to charge and how much to put out. Here is a photo of the diagram. If the fuseable link is corroded or has a bad connection it could intermittantly not charge. Same as where the wire goes into your instrument cluster and by the bulb. That connection needs to be complete i believe. Plug needs to be tight on the alt obviously. Is the clip that holds it on there still good? My one festiva sometimes will stop charging and the light comes on while im driving. I have to pull over and wiggle wires in the engine bay till it charges again. Then im good for another 8 months or year. I think the wires are perhaps broken inside the insulation or something on mine.



Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[ryanprins13]

Sorry for all the posts in a row, but this is good reading.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[firebush357]

Check the voltage at the Alternator and see if you are getting the same voltage readings that you were at the battery. Those older wires will sometimes get corrosion inside of the jackets and cause a major resistance.

[kevyrev]

I just checked the voltage at the alternator and I'm shocked as it was consistent with the battery. I was hoping to find 14 volts at output of alternator and then it would really confirm changing battery cable I suppose. It started at jump with 12.4 volts and was consistent at both alt. and battery. It steadily started to drop down to 10 volts and car finally died. As mentioned by someone earlier I checked my battery charging light and it does work. It has been coming on while out driving, usually about 15 min from house. I did also check with engine off and key to acc. and YES it does light up then too. I'm really confused now! I was beginning to think it was the battery cable, now what?

To confirm what has been done: New Battery
New Alternator ( tried 2 so far)
New Battery Terminals

[ricko1966]

If you have had cables hooked up backwards, especially to the point of getting the 4/6 whatever gauge positive wire hot,than all the smaller gauge stuff.including the voltage regulator are suspect in my book. I would check continuity on all the wires to the alternator first, and the engine ground wires I would the find out how the alternator is excited for example an old three wire gm alternator you can excite by clipping one side of a test light to battery 12v touch I think it was term 2 on the alternator and that would excite the alternator and watch your voltage jump up,with the car running of course.If you can excite it yourself then you need to figure out why it is not being excited or build a circuit to excite it. I have done that before with something as simple as an LED wired to the battery than to the alternator, the draw was so low it would never drain the battery in normal use but the alternator would always start charging when the vehicle started. I think that one was on a VW jetta someone had hooked up the battery backwards and couldn't afford to have us fix the car right.

The battery light on dash usually comes on right before car dies. I suppose I should go ahead and change the battery cables. My son said it was getting hot when his friend hooked jumper cables up backwards the other week. At least I can rule it out but I'm going to test the alternator output with my meter when I get home.
Do I have to remove the manifold to get to the positive battery cable connection. Can't seem to get around it.

[WmWatt]

When you install the alternator and adjust the top tension bolt do you go back and tighten the bottom pivot bolt?

It sounds like something mechanical is (1) working loose or (2) seizing up, or something electrical is (1) overheating or (2) losing contact because as you say, it gets worse with time. Any other possibilities?

The belt smokling and slipping doesnt' sound good. Could be glazing on the belt or lubricant on a pulley? Does the "V" of the belt match the "V" of the pullies?

[kevyrev]

This is not the same alternator that was on when they hooked jumper cables up backwards. This is a new alternator. No WmWatt I haven't tightened the bottom pivot bolt after adjusting tension. I have to run the belt loose or it gets hot. I have a new belt but it screams no matter what tension it's at. It's the cheap 1 year belt and seems to be a bit wider. My crankshaft pulley has some wobble to it and it has as long as I've had the car.
But the situation now is that the new battery is not charged enough to start car so I have to jump to start. Also once it starts it seems to be around 12 volts and just starts to drop in voltage until car dies.

[william]

You could have gotten a bad replacement altinator Ive see them bad right out of the box now when I buy one I make them test it before I take it home.

[kevyrev]

This is my second replacement alternator! I just assumed that the first one was bad because it wasn't charging battery. Odds on having two bad ones in a row, not to mention the original?

[kevyrev]

I noticed that the other fuse-able link connections are slightly corroded and I'm going to go ahead and see if I can clean them up. Could they possible be the culprit?

[bravekozak]

This is my second replacement alternator! I just assumed that the first one was bad because it wasn't charging battery. Odds on having two bad ones in a row, not to mention the original?

It could be possible.
If it is bad a second time, and you have to buy a third alternator, do not buy any more lottery tickets for the rest of your life.
Do not buy the same brand of rebuilt alternator from the same company.

Be sure to wire wheel the brass terminals in the main fuse.
Another important connector is the one that goes to the alternator.
Clean those terminals as well.
I will repeat what I have said in the past.
There should have been a watertite connector for every critical circuit in the engine compartment.
It would be easier to re-terminate the wires with new open barrel terminals, than to wire wheel them. You would only lose about 1/4" in length from each wire.
Clean all of your ground terminals as well.

[WmWatt]

If you think it's electrical (my vote is on the belt) spraying connections with WD-40 could help as it gets rid of moisture.

[ricko1966]

The jetta I mentioned in this had had a battery installed backwards and cooked some of the wires in the harness which is why I had to improvise a circuit,because he could afford a harness and the labor to change it, If you had a set of jumper cables hooked up backwards long enogh to get the positive battery cable hot I would check continuity on all the charging system wires and engine grounds to be sure 1 isn;t cooked.I would also try to excite the alternator on the car if you cab excite it that will tell you that what ever is suppose to turn on the alternator isn;t doing it's job.

If you have had cables hooked up backwards, especially to the point of getting the 4/6 whatever gauge positive wire hot,than all the smaller gauge stuff.including the voltage regulator are suspect in my book. I would check continuity on all the wires to the alternator first, and the engine ground wires I would the find out how the alternator is excited for example an old three wire gm alternator you can excite by clipping one side of a test light to battery 12v touch I think it was term 2 on the alternator and that would excite the alternator and watch your voltage jump up,with the car running of course.If you can excite it yourself then you need to figure out why it is not being excited or build a circuit to excite it. I have done that before with something as simple as an LED wired to the battery than to the alternator, the draw was so low it would never drain the battery in normal use but the alternator would always start charging when the vehicle started. I think that one was on a VW jetta someone had hooked up the battery backwards and couldn't afford to have us fix the car right.