bsteve

In short I'm having a big electrical problem in my 05 GT that the dealer so far can't diagnose. I've been searching the internet myself and read tons of past posts on this forum but didn't find any identical to mine. Please help with anything I can pass on to the service department to help them fix/replace the RIGHT component and avoid a huge bill that doesn't solve it.

Details:
Car sat garaged a couple weeks but started ran fine. Drove a few miles to get take out food and inside 5 min and came out and wouldn't start as if battery died (even though had just started). Easily started with a jump and ran but ABS and Traction control lights stayed on before the car died in flight. I assumed the alternator wasn't charging the battery. The battery was probably fine but old enough that I decided to just get a cab to parts store buy a fresh battery to get it to the dealer and have the alternator checked/fixed. They said they checked the charging system and it was fine and that the error codes were generic and said to just clear the codes and drive again. They test drove the vehicle around without issue. I drove it home and after a few miles the warning lights popped on and just as I got home the radio and other electrical components (radio/headlights/windows) began shutting off. After I pulled into garage turned key off and could slightly hear the relay reset (if thats the right way to say it) and the lights/radio/windows etc worked again. Told the dealer service department and while on the way back in all that same stuff started happening and it died in flight again and would not restart as the new battery was too drained. A jump start barely got me to the shop.

My take is that even though they say the alternator and electrical system is fine while testing it but at sometime driving stops charging the battery and after the fully charged battery gets to a low enough point things start shutting off.

Car details:
As I mentioned its an 05 but only has 65k miles and manual transmission. It has an aftermarket tune/stereo but neither has been changed in years and I took the inline fuse out from the amps power cable at the first sign of the battery being drained to rule that out.

I've read alot of posts on hear about electrical problems attributed to water getting in and the car was washed but can't imagine enough if any water got in then plus it then sat garaged for two weeks before that initial drive that seemed to be running on battery only. Please help if anyone has encountered anything similar.

bsteve

Update:

So now they say they tested the alternator again and it is bad...my original thought. I know dealerships tend to charge a premium for repairs rather than discounts but was surprised at how much he said it was going to be. If the car was completely stock and I wasn't thinking about selling it (meaning I want to make sure its 100% working order for next owner) I'd say no thanks and change it myself but at this point want to make sure it's done correctly in case any problems persist.

So even though the alternator was what I originally assumed was the problem I'm now a little nervous that changing this (especially at a pretty high cost for an alternator) will not fix some other possible underlying issue.

Again any input on other things that could be a problem or advice on making sure I'm getting a fair deal and their actually fixing the entire problem I'd appreciate it. I've already stressed to the service manager I told them what they now say is the issue and yet they still released it to me and left me on the side of the road trying to get it back to them. I also said at that price I want assurance that this will fix the issue and if it ends up not they need to work with me to make it right and not just do alot of work at my cost that doesn't fix the issue. Having said that I know electrical issues are a real B*** when it doesn't seem apparent the cause which is what has had me concerned.

Thanks for the views and any thoughts.

jz78817

a dying alternator can cause a number of weird symptoms on the generation of car you have.

tbar

Sounds like a bad alternator to me. You'll never know if it's the entire problem till you replace the bad alternator. I'd pickup the alternator from a parts store and throw it on yourself. The dealership's pretty pricey for parts.

Nuke

The charging systems in the S197's have been an Achilles heel from day one. If you've replaced the alternator, then put a healthy battery in ASAP. One of those weak will degrade the other.