I think my alt may be dead

[BASSMEKANIK89 10+ year member]

well my car is a 1998 i don't know if you consider that newer.

Nope, your good. Yank away! And most keyless systems can work all the way down to 9.5-10 volts.

 

[CHEMMINS 10+ year member]

You should just get a new batt and a high amp alt. Your 130 is not big enough for the 1500 and your stock electronics.

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

small components like keyless entry dont pull enough current to really matter... and yea ... if it was just a lil computer that he hooked up, it was one of their so called "battery testers" that really arent worth crap.

and you pulling the positive off while its running wont hurt anything... thats only really on cars built in the last couple years

 

[jeremyblevins 10+ year member]

well i had a tire blow out last week and just had to replace all my tires so my spending money is extremely tight as it is. If i can get by with autozone just replacing the battery then i'm happy, if my alternator is blown i'll probably just get a ho alt.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

If it seems to die overnight but runs for a whole day or so without troubles, then you could have short that's draining your battery overnight. I had a dome light that was burned out, but turned on, and it would drain my battery until I turned it off. I had another car where the controls for the windows/doors was shorted in the driver's door and drained the battery after a couple days of sitting.

You can get a cheap battery charger for about $15-30 these days.... You're going to need to own one if you own a car. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif I couldn't imagine not having one, I have 3 different types...

 

[jeremyblevins 10+ year member]

It only did that the first day it wouldn't start now I need a jump if it's only been 5 minutes since the car was shut off.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

I'm gonna go with a cell going out on the battery.

 

[Silver 10+ year member]

With the car running and everything hooked up.. take a dmm and go from thr positive post on the alt to the case of the alt. With no accessories on depending on your car @ around 2k it should be 13.7-14.4 volts. Turn on all accessories (wipers, lights, a/c, ect.) and see what it is also. should drop to high 11's to high 12's maybe even 13. If its good, then your alts fine. More than likely its a battery though. Its just not holding a charge. If the altrenator failed the battery light would be on the dash.9 times out of 10

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

If it was your alt I'm almost positive your car would not stay running because eventually your car would drain the battery. I had to jump my car for about two weeks a few months back and then after that my battery started smoking:crap:

 

[jeremyblevins 10+ year member]

okay so i replaced the battery and started the car and my voltage jumped up to 13.8v with no load on. then i drove it up to the store to test and make sure and i noticed my the time i got to the store my battery gauge was low in my gauge cluster and the voltmeter on my distro was only in the 12s while running. their test first time returned a low voltage warning for the alt and the second test returned no voltage which i agree with because the voltage on my battery is going lower.

so next i'll disconnect the power cable to my audio system to make sure it's not it causing a problem with grounding or something then if not i guess i'll need a new alt.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

okay so i replaced the battery and started the car and my voltage jumped up to 13.8v with no load on. then i drove it up to the store to test and make sure and i noticed my the time i got to the store my battery gauge was low in my gauge cluster and the voltmeter on my distro was only in the 12s while running. their test first time returned a low voltage warning for the alt and the second test returned no voltage which i agree with because the voltage on my battery is going lower.
so next i'll disconnect the power cable to my audio system to make sure it's not it causing a problem with grounding or something then if not i guess i'll need a new alt.

If it is your alt I'd stop using that new battery. Thats the crappy thing with electrical, one thing goes wrong and it causes a chain reaction. Dont want you to ruin your brand new battery.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

I'm leaning towards a small short to ground or a definite faulty alternator.

One way to test for a short to ground is check how many amps it draws between the positive post of the battery and the positive battery cable, with it disconnected. If its drawing more than ~0.5 - 1A at rest, then you know something is shorting out or drawing too much power with the key turned off. The clocks, ECU and possible alarm will draw a little power while the ignition is off, but not more than .5 - 1A...

 

[jeremyblevins 10+ year member]

Well I don't think I have anything to measure amps. Could I not just disconnect the power cable going to my distro to check?

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

Start there...... If your problem goes away, you have your answer. The correct way is to test it with a DMM set to amps, like I outlined.

 

[phrostbyte0311 10+ year member]

If it was the alternator, after starting the car or getting a jump start, you would watch the voltage slowly go down to like 11-10 volts and then either your car would die from lack of power to your fuel injection system or accessories would all turn off if carburated. Also, could be fuel pump or regulator. When the car died, did it sputter or just cut straight out?