dead batter, fckn-A

[Dawgz]

so i go to turn the car on and no lights no nothing, nothing turned over, so i went and had it Jumped with my neighbors car, so i drove a while and my hids came on and then they started to flicker cause there was a lack of current? so i take it to pepboys and they say i need a new battery and alternator...

is 200 bux reasonable for a new BOSCH ALternator? oh man i hate this crap

['00vegas-solara]

Are you sure the alternators bad too. I've had my battery die and show the same symptoms you've described. I've been stranded 3 seperate times in 3 different cars by a dead battery. I now change them every 2 years regardless if its dead or not. Good Luck

[StockSolara]

so i go to turn the car on and no lights no nothing, nothing turned over, so i went and had it Jumped with my neighbors car, so i drove a while and my hids came on and then they started to flicker cause there was a lack of current? so i take it to pepboys and they say i need a new battery and alternator...

is 200 bux reasonable for a new BOSCH ALternator? oh man i hate this schlock-schlock-schlock

Well it can mean your battery can't hold a charge cause that was how my friend's car was. . . So you might just need a new battery. . . You should just get a Battery/Alternator Tester and see if you really need to change the alternator. . . I think you can find an alternator cheaper else where online but if you can't wait than I guess you have no choice

[Dawgz]

thanks soo much for everyone who posted, i went today in the morning and asked them to refund my money for the alternator and just replace the battery, and the car worked...the battery was soo shot that it wouldnt take ANY charge at all so made the alternator look like it was dead too

[SleeperSolara]

A good way to kind-of test the alternator is to turn on your gauges at night.
And pull the window switch up, and if your gauges dim then alternator is about to die.
It doin' that to might dads car, cause i sort-of had a system in there and didn't have a cap for it, and the gauges were dimmin' so i think i was killin' the alternator, and now dads is about to put it to rest.

I could be wrong.

[Solarafreek]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

[Jon11582]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

NO DO NOT DO THIS. Battery acts as a voltage stabilizer and you can toast your electronics if you do this, especially if you think your alternators might be going bad.

[SleeperSolara]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

WTF, WTF is all i have to say.
What idiot would do that??????

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I could be wrong.

external lights dimmin when swiches activated, or if you rev, your display gauges are more brighter are all signs of ageing alternator. and FYI: why buy a new one when you can rebuild your existing alternator. Replacing bushing are all thats needed, and some stores do alternator rebuilds. Only problem is down-time when the alternator is being rebuilt.

[Solarafreek]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

WTF, WTF is all i have to say.
What idiot would do that??????

Idiot eh

[StockSolara]

thanks soo much for everyone who posted, i went today in the morning and asked them to refund my money for the alternator and just replace the battery, and the car worked...the battery was soo shot that it wouldnt take ANY charge at all so made the alternator look like it was dead too

Glad you got it working

[Jon11582]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

WTF, WTF is all i have to say.
What idiot would do that??????

For Solarafreek's defense, this was OK way back in the day when we didnt have all these complex electronics in the car. Im talkin days when there were analog radio dials. Alternator's voltage can spike up to around 30-40v, which WILL fry most of todays high tech sensitive electronics made to run between 12v and 14.4v. The battery needs to be connected to regulate this voltage to the proper operating voltage so that the alternator wont blow everything that runs off electricity in your car.

[SleeperSolara]

Start your car and unhook the battery while its running. If it dies you know your alternator is fried.

WTF, WTF is all i have to say.
What idiot would do that??????

For Solarafreek's defense, this was OK way back in the day when we didnt have all these complex electronics in the car. Im talkin days when there were analog radio dials. Alternator's voltage can spike up to around 30-40v, which WILL fry most of todays high tech sensitive electronics made to run between 12v and 14.4v. The battery needs to be connected to regulate this voltage to the proper operating voltage so that the alternator wont blow everything that runs off electricity in your car.

Well that was back in the day.
Why did he mention that for todays cars??????
Pointless.......

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

I could be wrong.

external lights dimmin when swiches activated, or if you rev, your display gauges are more brighter are all signs of ageing alternator. and FYI: why buy a new one when you can rebuild your existing alternator. Replacing bushing are all thats needed, and some stores do alternator rebuilds. Only problem is down-time when the alternator is being rebuilt.

I knew there had to be something wrong with the alternator (and I'm not a mechanic)... Sometimes the headlights seem to brighten when I rev it, the inside lights flicker a bit when the car is idling (not very subtle but kinda noticable), and and just last night I noticed the backlight around the odometer doing the same (although no other gauges seem to have that effect).

and the stealership AND AutoZone claims they didn't find anything wrong. Then again, that was also when I noticed that the car's battery didn't have the right amperage rating on it either; AutoZone's system claims an 800 amp is a direct fit, and I had a 600-something amp battery installed at the time (but the problem came back after a week or 2).