battery or alternator problem?
09-16-2006, 11:54 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6
battery or alternator problem?
I bought my 96 gt used and it ran fine for about 4 daysthen the battery was dead, so i replaced it with a performance battery and same thing it was dead 3-5 days later, finally i took it in and they said that everything is fine with the car just the low battery so they replaced it and it ran fine again for same period, then battery is dead. They left it on diagnostics for 2 days and the battery was dripping the normal amount of juice its supposed to nothing out of ordinary, so im starting to wonder if it needs a new alternator or could it be something more internal like wires sticking some where? help thanks
09-17-2006, 02:01 AM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NJ
Posts: 293
RE: battery or alternator problem?
ORIGINAL: 1988 Mustang Lx
take your car to autozone and have then check your alternator, or if you have the device that checks your battery/alternator use that.
take your car to autozone and have then check your alternator, or if you have the device that checks your battery/alternator use that.
I found that at autozone or advance ,that if the voltage regulator is built into the alternator it will pass their test and you will still have the problem until you replace the alternator. if voltage regulator is not part of the alternator I would try that first.
also is your belt tight?
hope this helps you
09-17-2006, 02:07 AM
#5
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Laredo, TEXAS
Posts: 6,054
RE: battery or alternator problem?
ORIGINAL: squad272
While I am no expert at all, I have had a few battery issues in my 40 years
I found that at autozone or advance ,that if the voltage regulator is built into the alternator it will pass their test and you will still have the problem until you replace the alternator. if voltage regulator is not part of the alternator I would try that first.
also is your belt tight?
hope this helps you
ORIGINAL: 1988 Mustang Lx
take your car to autozone and have then check your alternator, or if you have the device that checks your battery/alternator use that.
take your car to autozone and have then check your alternator, or if you have the device that checks your battery/alternator use that.
I found that at autozone or advance ,that if the voltage regulator is built into the alternator it will pass their test and you will still have the problem until you replace the alternator. if voltage regulator is not part of the alternator I would try that first.
also is your belt tight?
hope this helps you
09-17-2006, 09:13 AM
#8
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location:
Posts: 544
RE: battery or alternator problem?
IT is a pain to have to reset the radio all the time.
I would put an ampmeter between the red large
battery terminal and the battery ( of coarse you
have to remove the terminal).
Don't take the first reading since there may
be computers that need to initialize.
See what you get.
More than 10-50 milliAmps and you may have
a leakage problem. If so - start pulling fuses
till the reading drops.
If I don't run my 89 GT every few days my
battery will go dead also.
George
soon ....
I would put an ampmeter between the red large
battery terminal and the battery ( of coarse you
have to remove the terminal).
Don't take the first reading since there may
be computers that need to initialize.
See what you get.
More than 10-50 milliAmps and you may have
a leakage problem. If so - start pulling fuses
till the reading drops.
If I don't run my 89 GT every few days my
battery will go dead also.
George
soon ....
09-17-2006, 12:33 PM
#9
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location:
Posts: 509
RE: battery or alternator problem?
I agree with corvette guy.
Think it is safe to say it is not the battery. If they measure the battery draw with the car off there should be little loss unless they somehow kept something from coming on.
It could then be an intermittent problem of the battery getting drained while the car is off.
Maybe I missed it but I don't see where it says that the alternator output was checked ( ? )
Using a voltmeter - You should see about 14 V when the car is running at fast idle or above. This should drop by a couple of volts when the car is off but stay virually the same for a few days if all is well and there is nothing sucking battery juice.
The 96 should have the regulator built into the alternator.
As reference - My car has had the red battery symbol thingy come on for the last few weeks. It usually comes on when the car is pulling like taking off from a light etc.
At the same time the amp meter on the dash drops to a lower reading. I have yet to see it do it at higher RPM or idle. So, if someone where to check the cahrging system it would look ok unless they just catch it at the right time and conditions.
My guess is that the issue in my car is either the regulator - maybe a bad solder joint that fails at a certain frequency of vibration as the motor shudders under load. Or it is something in the circuit that is frequency/RPM sensitive. My point is there sometimes problems are not as simple as checking voltage, loading down the battery and laternator and the like.
Good luck to us both
Think it is safe to say it is not the battery. If they measure the battery draw with the car off there should be little loss unless they somehow kept something from coming on.
It could then be an intermittent problem of the battery getting drained while the car is off.
Maybe I missed it but I don't see where it says that the alternator output was checked ( ? )
Using a voltmeter - You should see about 14 V when the car is running at fast idle or above. This should drop by a couple of volts when the car is off but stay virually the same for a few days if all is well and there is nothing sucking battery juice.
The 96 should have the regulator built into the alternator.
As reference - My car has had the red battery symbol thingy come on for the last few weeks. It usually comes on when the car is pulling like taking off from a light etc.
At the same time the amp meter on the dash drops to a lower reading. I have yet to see it do it at higher RPM or idle. So, if someone where to check the cahrging system it would look ok unless they just catch it at the right time and conditions.
My guess is that the issue in my car is either the regulator - maybe a bad solder joint that fails at a certain frequency of vibration as the motor shudders under load. Or it is something in the circuit that is frequency/RPM sensitive. My point is there sometimes problems are not as simple as checking voltage, loading down the battery and laternator and the like.
Good luck to us both
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