Okay, so lately its been kinda cold in Miami and whatever.

Whenever my car starts, my headunit acts all crazy. Im thinking either the headunit is starting to shit or something electrical isnt connected properly or is beginning to shit too.

And tonight, my HID's started shitting, my center console dimmed down and my ABS light activated, plus my headunit was really shitting now.

Im thinking there's something wrong with the battery connection? Fuses?

 

Are your terminals clean?

 

I'll check tomorrow morning. It's freezing outside (like 40's or something)

 

haha, yea, your definitely living in Miami if you think 40's is freezing, I think its mid 20's out here right now lol

And on topic, if all that stuff is acting up, it probably is a fuse.

 

lol@freezing outside...punkass its the same temp right now in Wa state.

Sounds like your alternator is going out...time to start volt testing

Check your battery after that...but seriously, everytime I hear about this situation it's usually the ALT.

EDIT: I've been in this situation twice before. It sucks because they're fawkin expensive.

 

Fuck in the butt. I cant afford a new alty now lol

btw, the location in your mini-profile is fawking hilarious.

 

Could be. But I'd CHECK the alternator first.

 

Just take the bastard out and get the core redone for cheaper.

EDIT: You're the first one to actually say something about my location. lmao!

 

Fuck it was 92 degrees IN SOCAL!. haha. DONT hate.

 

yup, good luck man

 

mine did the same shit!!!!!!hid's, and door dome went off too. abs light went on at the same time. i cleaned/replaced connections/terminal and it's happened once since then.... my alt is less than a year old......

 

Ok. I'll replace the terminals first. How would I go about doing that? Anyone?

 

Alternator =

 

i dont think you have to replace them, just make sure theyre nice and tight. if youd like, disconnect them and clean them along with the posts of the batt with a wire brush and then make sure they lock back on nice and tight.

 

Yeah, check your terminals first. Then if that does not fix your problem, its probably your alternator.

 

Terminals is the first/easiest thing to check, if you're dimming and having all those problems and it's not your terms or battery, it's your alt, but the alt will get worse and you'll figure it out

 

you alex, if you have to get a new alt. check the opa locka swap meet. i remember that they sold car parts there too.

 

Check and see if this car has a ALT diode that you can replace instead of getting a whole new unit.

 

clean the battery terminals.

take the headunit off and spray the faceplate with compressed air.

 

good thing you got that Wii

 

 

well i just checked ebay.. i could buy a used one for pretty cheap (30 bucks) or a high output one for alot more (179 ish )

If it turns out to be a dying alty, i'll probably go with the cheap one... Anyone done a DIY for an alternator replacement in the DIY section?

 

Remove belt, remove bolts, replace

 

Um. how about fuck no

(ps I had a brain fart about the belts lol)

 

just friggin try it alex its right on top, save yourself some money you dont have

 

I think he doesn't want to get dirty.

 

 

Changing the belt is one of the easiest things in the service world to do. You need a socket set - you only need to remove 3 nuts and loosen two bolts and its off. I can replace a belt and alternator in about 20 minutes now.

When an internal diode goes in one of these you get still get around for a while, everything starts to slow down b/c the connections start to go bad. You didn't mention if your belt squeeked or anything? The first signs of my alternator is just before dead is the ALB light and generally everything starts a slow dimming shut down. If you keep the rev's up you can usually make it home if things are starting to flip out.


If your really confused about which bolts to take off maybe this will give you better idea.

Go page 4 - 5 so you can view it clearly. I know it's on a CL-S but you get the idea.

http://www.comptechusa.com/store/med...ons/ins104.pdf



G'LUCK love! N don't go on ebay for alternators. You can go to your local kragen parts store or mom n pop's parts stores n they're fairly cheap. They'll of course ask for a core charge.

 

when this happened to my car it was because of a dead battery, but also every time my car was turned off it wouldn't start had to get jumped. I replaced the battery and there were no more problems

 

if your battery terminals are corroded, then take a bucket of warm or hot watter and pour it on the battery. Its a onld trick that i learned from my dad. It loosens up the corrosion and most times you will not even have to use a wire brush. This is something that mechanics have been doing for years in Europe and here I will add.

Oh and dont worry about shorting it out as it will not.

 

Fact: If the battery is going dead, the alternator will blow itself out. This is the main reason why alternators die.

 

Can you tell me where you got this fact???

battery is only used to start your car - after it starts thats when your alternator replenishes everything else & when your car is off. That is only when it's draining your battery i.e. radio etc.

& since the battery is going dead - the alternator would just have less to replenish it with. It's when the diodes (the wiring looking thing inside your alternator) goes out - thats when it starts blowing itself out not b/c the battery is going dead.

How does the alternator know that the battery is going out? It doesn't.

Now if your alternator is putting out too much it can blow your battery. That is fact.

 

Cuz he's :ghey:

 

 

sorry, here's a better explanation.


There are some signs you can look for that will indicate a problem with the charging system. If the headlights brighten or the blower motor picks up speed when you rev the engine, you may have a weak battery. This indicates the battery may not be holding enough current to run the car and is working off the alternator. If the charge light is on dimly at idle, this could indicate a weak alternator. If all the warning lights come on while driving, this could indicate a bad diode pack in the alternator. It may or may not still be charging, but you don't know unless you have it checked. At any rate, it will need to be replaced.

Read the bold lettering. This can kill the alternator...make the diode packs get weak, then in turn go bad.

 

Im 99.9% sure its not my battery. It's an optima red top But yea, I'll get it checked very soon. And I'll see about tackling it myself with the replacement bit - Maybe it's not as difficult as I thought

 

does the car start fine???

if it is your alternator make sure, you get some money back for a core charge. BTW i guarentee you the alternator is probaly one of the easiest things you can replace. i mean for christ sakes its right in front of you.

 

start your car, pull the negative battery cable off, if it dies the alternator is bad

 

^^how are you shineynitelite again. i dont get it.

 

what dont you get?