Stock alternator just died, ****!

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

A week ago I went to start my car 10 minutes after I parked it (luckily in front of my house) and it wouldn't start. Alarm wouldn't work, no lights anywhere... everything completely died. Jump started the car, let it sit for a while... the car worked fine since.

Went to a store a few minutes ago (3 AM) and when I went back to the car, the same problem happened. I waited in the parking lot for about 20 minutes for someone to show up, because the douchebag inside wouldn't give me a jump and boy was I lucky.

The guy who pulled up in the parking lot worked for AAA and knew his shit. Gave me a jump and the car still wouldn't start, even after 5 minutes of letting it sit. He put one cable on my alternator it seemed and one on the battery and my car worked again and started, but my airbag lights and traction lights were on and my dome lights were strobing.

He said I had a few minutes to get home before my car probably took a shit... so I rushed home. He told me my alternator was bad, and that every symptom has to do with my alternator.

Well luckily, I had planned to replace my alternator in the near future for my stereo. Does this seem like it would be a problem with the alternator? Nathan at Excessive quoted me $290 for a 200 amp alternator which seems pretty fair... Dom @ Iraggi wants to charged me $399 for a 200 amp alternator.

How quick does it normally take to get a HO alternator? I'm in NEED of an alternator it seems, and I'm not going to drive my car and get stuck somewhere at 3 AM again. Maybe I can get my mom to rent a Dodge Charger or something for me to roll around in until I get the new alternator...hmmmmmm

/rant

Click to read more...

 

[CJL 10+ year member]

i plan on getting a alt from Nate on Mon or Tues //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

Wow that sucks... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

ALSO: Will I be safe with a 200 amp alternator? I really don't want to shell out the extra cash for a 300 amp alternator if a 200 amp will do me good.

I'll be running my IA 20.1 at .5 ohms...

 

[killahbean 10+ year member]

wow that sucks man....stuck somewhere at 3 am, that blows....well at least now you'll get the ho alt quicker //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

Yeah but the HO alt will come before my Boston Z6s now... and I have no mids whatsoever at this point. So I'll have power to run my car but no speakers to hear it!

 

[SAG3 5,000+ posts]

thats what drugs do to you.

 

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

thats what drugs do to you.

mmmmmmkay

 

[killahbean 10+ year member]

u can use some temporary speakers in the mean while....somebodys gotta have some speakers laying around....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[SAG3 5,000+ posts]

mmmmmmkay

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180102&highlight=weed

 

[AJ²06 5,000+ posts]

A great excuse to buy a HO alt... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180102&highlight=weed

Don't be a dick, mmmkay = ok = GTFO of my thread...
Just went out to the car to check for any check engine light problems... no problems there.

The air was on even though the thing was set to off, so I pressed buttons on the A/C, then hit off again and it turned off.

I put the key in the ignition without turning it and I can hear a VERY faint repeating click, I turn the key or take it out and it goes away.

I go to start the car to see if it will start and power for everything goes and it doesn't start. I have a two ton piece of metal in my driveway right now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[o. l. t. 10+ year member]

A week ago I went to start my car 10 minutes after I parked it (luckily in front of my house) and it wouldn't start. Alarm wouldn't work, no lights anywhere... everything completely died. Jump started the car, let it sit for a while... the car worked fine since.
Went to a store a few minutes ago (3 AM) and when I went back to the car, the same problem happened. I waited in the parking lot for about 20 minutes for someone to show up, because the douchebag inside wouldn't give me a jump and boy was I lucky.

The guy who pulled up in the parking lot worked for AAA and knew his shit. Gave me a jump and the car still wouldn't start, even after 5 minutes of letting it sit. He put one cable on my alternator it seemed and one on the battery and my car worked again and started, but my airbag lights and traction lights were on and my dome lights were strobing.

He said I had a few minutes to get home before my car probably took a shit... so I rushed home. He told me my alternator was bad, and that every symptom has to do with my alternator.

Well luckily, I had planned to replace my alternator in the near future for my stereo. Does this seem like it would be a problem with the alternator? Nathan at Excessive quoted me $290 for a 200 amp alternator which seems pretty fair... Dom @ Iraggi wants to charged me $399 for a 200 amp alternator.

How quick does it normally take to get a HO alternator? I'm in NEED of an alternator it seems, and I'm not going to drive my car and get stuck somewhere at 3 AM again. Maybe I can get my mom to rent a Dodge Charger or something for me to roll around in until I get the new alternator...hmmmmmm

/rant

It's not the alt, it's the battery. When you jump started the car it ran fine. This would not be possible if the alt was dead because you already had a dead battery. The only thing keeping you going was the alt.

While the car was running off the alt you were fine. When you cut the car off again, the battery would not restart it. Bad cell in the battery.

Replace the battery and have the alt tested after you put the new battery in. Wouldn't hurt to check all your stock cables from the battery clamps all the way to the frame also just to ensure the battery wasn't killed by a bad ground on the block or corroded cable inside the clamp.

 

[Kenny Pollock 10+ year member]

That's the thing, he had positive on the alternator (or negative) and negative on the battery (or positive)... it wasn't a straight battery jump.

When I started the car this morning it was dead again, nothing works. I bought the battery brand new about 2 months ago.

I'm going to shell out for the HO alternator, then do the big 3... and exchange my battery for a new one (with the warranty!)

 

[thatsgonnahurt 10+ year member]

its fairly easy to check the functioning of an alternator with a meter. connect the meter across the battery set for volts dc, it will read 12.6 volts. start the car and apply a load to the alternator, headlights, stereo, etc. the voltage should go up to 13.8-14.6 volts if your alternator is working. if its not you'll get a reading below 12.6 volts.