mustang nakotah

i just recently bought a 1996 mustang gt with 144,000 miles on it. after i bought it, the car went smooth and nothing was wrong until the next day, the speedometer stopped working. and then yesterday i drove the car, i noticed the lights in the dashboard were fading. i wasn't sure and then i realized that the battery in the car went dead. my friend charged the battery and it drove well again and the speedometer started working. then today i was driving and i noticed the battery needle was starting to fall to the leftside and the speedometer didn't work. then i took it home and charged the battery with a machine for about 5 hours and the car still doesn't work. so i was suggested either i need a new battery or something's wrong with the alternator. or electricity problems. if anyone could help me on this one, i really appreciate it! thanks!

mike08

i had the exact same thing happen to me today!!! weird **** but i bought a new battery and it still didnt fix it. check out the alternator. there is something on the back of the alternator that can go bad, the name slipped my mind...its a switch or something. if that doesnt fix it, you should look into getting a new one.

mustang nakotah

maybe it does have something to do with the alternator. i mean this car is old and i don't know if it ever got changed or fixed or whatever. if it was never touched then i hope that's the solution. man, i am so in love with this car! i don't want my baby to die! and be more expensive on me!

DMBM

well i doubt your car is dead... If you want to see if it's the alternator which i would suspect, then go buy or borrow a multi meter and check the voltage at the battery with the car not running. A healthy battery should read 12.4-12.6 volts. Next start the car and read the voltage again it should be charging at around 13.5 or more volts. If it isn't charging make sure your connections to the battery are clean and tight, and if still no charging then remove the alternator and take it to a reputable parts store and they will be able to test it for you and set you up with the parts you need.

mustang nakotah

i can check the car if it's not on because the car won't start. i don't know. should i just go out and buy both the battery and alternator? if it's one or the other i can always return them.

devongarver

remove the alternator and battery, take both to autozone, get both tested, purchase needed replacement, problem solved. If i were you, i would just go buy new and not bother bringing the old in. 144000 miles is enough for me, That alternator and battery has served its life IMO.

JC316

It's the alternator that has gone bye bye. Probably the voltage regulator, but since it's non replaceable, just change the alternator out.

mike08

i bought a new battery yesterday and a new alternator today. The dumbass at autozone and advanced autoparts couldnt hook the alternator up so i bought a new ($232!) and it runs good now.

ChalknCover

I would check the alternator first since you have a new battery. If the alternator is quitting it starts to just run off your battery and that won't last too long as you noticed. But I would bet money that is what it is, do like previously said and get it tested. Beware, auto zone people don't always know what they are doing, I actually had to show them how to use it after I realized they were clueless lol. Oh the stories I could tell about auto part people... *shakes head*

Lol, after posting, I just read mike08's post, so mine folks aren't the only ones then...

mustang nakotah

i just found out the battery is great but the car still won't start. so we got the tow truck to come and take my baby away. any scratch on that car, i will have to kick some butts. anyway, so it might be the alternator. another problem is, the electricity might have something to do with it. when i tried to unlock my car with the alarm, it won't unlock. it has this noise like it's struggling to unlock the door. also my windows suck.