my car is dead/dying.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:40 pm

I just swapped in a lower km shortblock after the car had been sitting for the entire summer.

I drove the car around for a few hours and noticed the starter starting to crank slower as i ran my errands, being a fresh motor it fired up right away. when i got home in my garage and tried to restart the car, it wouldnt even turn over.

the battery was from my previous car and is about 3 years old. i took it out and put in a battery that was originally from the subaru (was in the car when i bought it) and charged it up for a few hours.

it started up and i ran it for a while, shut the car down and it started up no problem. it started in the morning too and got me to work, and now it is dead. i am at work right now and luckily i brought my charger and will get it started so i can get home.

the alternator is 100% new. do i have two shit batteries or could something else be draining my power?

Post by **Legacy777** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 5:55 pm

Something is up with your charging system. I'd suspect alternator based on what you described.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 6:16 pm

What kind of new alternator is it? If it's not OEM, the newness doesn't matter. I've seen far more aftermarket starters and alternators bad out of the box than I care to. I'd seriously trust a used OEM alternator over a new aftermarket (cheaper, too). Starters I'd trust only because I can always push start the car and replacement's nothing, but a bad alternator can take a battery out and that's extra money I'd rather not spend.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 6:44 pm

it is an aftermarket alternator. i bought it brand new about two months before it sat. ill have it tested hopefully today or tomorrow. i wish i could push start it, but the 4eat kind of limits that.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:24 pm

Push-starting won't matter much anyway if the battery's the only thing running the ignition and it's dead. Be aware that many of the guys testing charging systems don't know how to properly use the equipment and get false positives, sending you on your way to be stranded. The other problem is that if the issue is intermittent internally and happens to not be acting up at the time of test then it'll test "good". I really only ever trust a test if it comes out bad. What I would do is triple check all the cables and make sure they're good and then, if the problem comes back, replace the alternator.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:34 am

ok so i tested the battery, and its putting out 12.48 volts.

when i turn the key it starts dropping, and keeps going down until i take the key out, at which point the battery starts to recharge itself back up to 12.48.

something is draining the battery as soon as i turn the key or when the car is running.

glennda5id · Post by **glennda5id** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 4:43 pm

That sounds like a bad battery to me.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:40 pm

i got the car started after charging it. when the car was running for a minute, the voltage at the battery was 14.5x so that means the alternator is working, right?

i took off the charger last night when it was able to turn over under its own power.

this morning it read 12.50, when i put the key in and turned it over, it turned once, and wouldnt turn again, the voltage dropped to 8.17ish when i had the key in the crank position, when i let it go back to the "ON" position it went to 10.xx and started slowly dropping and wouldnt turn the car over.

hoked the battery charger back up and it was able to muster a crank.

glennda5id · Post by **glennda5id** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:50 pm

Sounds like a battery problem. I would charge the overnight battery then see how many times you can start the car before it dies. It should be many times. Or you could take the battery to an auto parts store and have them test it.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:42 pm

yeah, the other day i did an overnight charge and i was able to run errands for half the day and so i shut it down and started it 5-6 times.

when i got home into my garage, i tried to start and it wouldnt. boy was i lucky there.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:30 pm

The concern is still what killed the battery.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:01 am

well i had two batteries, it appears both are dead. the first one that came with the car sat for a little over a year and i have no idea how long it was in the car before that at the auction yard.

this is the battery that this thread is about. i put it back in the car and was hoping it would work. the battery that was in the car was sitting all summer long so it was dead too, this one was 3 years old.

i bought a new battery and tested the voltage and when i turn the car off the battery voltage recharges back up to 12.6 by itself. the old ones didnt do that. they stayed dead.

i will take a day or two to see if the new battery lasts.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:59 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:The concern is still what killed the battery.

you my friend were correct. this "new" alternator turned out to be defective. i got it bench tested and it failed.

after yelling at the place i bought it from 9 months ago (1 month of driving on alt fwiw) because i lost the warranty papers, i got a new one.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:22 am

So you know, a lead-acid battery will lose charge on its own and, if it sits dead, can be permanently damaged in as little as 24 hours. A few months sitting dead is pretty much a lost cause. Lead-acid are only good because they're cheap and can punch out some decent amps.

Herm99 · Post by **Herm99** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:59 am

At this point, you may of ruined the alternator also, I would stop driving it on this weak system, go to a autozone or pep boys and have them test the alt and battery, they do it for free and takes literally 2 minutes.

juice91si · Post by **juice91si** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:57 pm

if you read two posts above you i did get it bench tested and it failed. i have already got a new one and installed it with my new battery and all is well so far.

if somehow it dies again ill post up but for now were A OK.

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my car is dead/dying.

my car is dead/dying.