Should I be looking for a new alternator/battery?

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:48 am

So I've been thinking about this for a while. The answer seems pretty obvious, but I'll look for a second opinion.

With my lights on and blower on full blast, if I press on the brake pad (illuminating the brake lights), I notice a considerable drop in the RPMs of the fans.

Sometimes with my deck's volume turned up (the PO put in new speakers), if my headlights are on, and I turn the wipers up to high, the deck will turn off and then back on... until the wipers move again.

Most of the time when things like this happen, my Blitz turbo timer is reading somewhere below 10v, but I'm not sure where it's reading the voltage from.

The car doesn't have trouble firing... ever. But sometimes, very rarely, the starter solenoid will click and the engine won't turn over at all. I've only had this happen once in the last month and a half. I turned everything off and the car started just fine.

It seems pretty obvious what's wrong, but I'll let you guys make sure for me.

scuzzy · Post by **scuzzy** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:13 am

alternator.

Post by **Legacy777** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:07 pm

Yeah.....voltage reg is probably shot....you should probably replace the battery too, unless you recently replaced it, or just recently noticed these symptoms.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:21 pm

I'll see if I can puck up a new alternator first, and if that doesn't fix the problem, I'll pick up a battery.

Thanks a lot.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:23 am

Alright... So a while ago I grabbed a used alternator from a member on these forums and installed it to hopefully fix the problem. It went away for a few weeks, maybe a month. Then it came back.

Now the car doesn't start after being left over night, and often times doesn't start even after a short stay in the grocery store parking lot.

When the key is turned to "On", my Blitz turbotimer reads 11.8-12.x volts. When I turn the key to start the car, the reading drops at low at 9.5 volts. This clearly is not a good thing. The relay still clicks when I try to start the car.

So today I went and picked up a new battery. The problem is still there... which leads me to believe it isn't a battery problem (lol). Could it still be an alternator issue? The car starts fine with a push and a little clutch manipulation.

I'd really like to get this resolved before the snow starts to fall. Thanks.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:04 am

You have something draining the battery at rest. Friend of mine once had a Cadillac with a similar problem. Gave up trying to find it and took to disconnecting the battery every night until one time he heard a whirring sound from the trunk. Turned out to be the automatic trunk closer continually cycling on for whatever reason. I'd say Gremlins, but Mr. Futterman swears they only infect foreign cars.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:51 am

evolutionmovement wrote:You have something draining the battery at rest. Friend of mine once had a Cadillac with a similar problem. Gave up trying to find it and took to disconnecting the battery every night until one time he heard a whirring sound from the trunk. Turned out to be the automatic trunk closer continually cycling on for whatever reason. I'd say Gremlins, but Mr. Futterman swears they only infect foreign cars.

It still didn't start right after installing the new battery, though. The guy at Schwab said it was fully charged when he gave it to me.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:16 am

Ah, yes, you DID mention that. Sounds like a bad wire, then, possibly a bad starter. Do all the other electrical things work fine? What does the car do when you try to start it? Does the starter click once, is there a rapid series of rapping sounds, or is there just nothing at all?

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:53 am

There's repetitive clicking and something that sounds like a servo moving.

Most other things look fine, but I noticed that sometimes the stereo will make certain dash lights dim when the bass hits, or sometimes if the stereo is loud enough, it will reset. The same goes for the turn signals every time they click on. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:07 pm

Check the ground cable for the battery and the starter cables. Clicking says you're not getting enough juice, but that the starter wants to go.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:07 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:Check the ground cable for the battery and the starter cables. Clicking says you're not getting enough juice, but that the starter wants to go.

Alright. I'll check that out... ran into another LARGE problem last night that needs to be resolved now.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:04 pm

I was going to say replace both positive and ground cables from the battery. They can get corroded inside the cable and prevent the starter from getting enough power.

Its actually a pretty each job once you cut all the electrical tape off.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:12 am

So I might as well go ahead and get a new pair of terminals as well, then, yeah?

Herm99 · Post by **Herm99** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:56 am

Fkyx wrote:So I might as well go ahead and get a new pair of terminals as well, then, yeah?

terminals? Just replace the neg and pos batter cables, they have the connectors on them, you can get the cables at autozone for dirt cheap, like $8/each. And they take like 5 mins to replace.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:08 am

I replaced the battery cables today to no avail. Still has trouble starting.

Any more ideas?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:50 pm

The ones to the starter or just the battery? The main ones at issue would be the main ground to the chassis and the heavy starter cables. Make sure the terminals or chassis point is clean so there's good contact. If your starter's doing a rapid fire clicking, it's not getting power and that's it and the whole circuit is right there. If you're getting a single clack, that would probably be a starter problem, but a bad cable explains your other symptoms of lights dimming and such when the starter is attempted. I suppose a bad starter could cause the same problem by drawing too much, but not starting, but the rapid-fire clicking is (I believe) the solenoid trying to fire, but not having enough power to hold.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:32 pm

I replaced the battery cables to go from the battery to the engine block.

It's not really "rapid-fire". There's a click maybe every second with the servo-moving sounds inbetween.

Voltage readings showed no change.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:38 pm

Sounds like it might be the starter then. The click could be a relay and the servo sound is most likely the fuel pump. Have you tried whacking the starter with a hammer?

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:41 pm

I haven't... it's kind of hidden down there underneath my massive TMIC. Hardly enough room for me to move my ratchet, let alone swing a hammer. I'll see if it works though.

How's the workload on replacing the starter?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:06 pm

20 min-half an hour without an intercooler in the way.

Fkyx · Post by **Fkyx** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:23 am

evolutionmovement wrote:20 min-half an hour without an intercooler in the way.

Alright. I'll budget for a new starter then.

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Should I be looking for a new alternator/battery?

Should I be looking for a new alternator/battery?