arstraub

My dad just put a new alternator in my car and now my battery keeps dying. The light will flash at me from time to time and whenever I go to have my battery checked, it's dead. I've had 2 in less than a month. The starter is fine, the alt. tests fine, so have any ideas what the problem could be!?

Mike86

wow, could be a faulty alternator that was installed. If it's getting drained as you're driving the car then the alternator's not charging it. If it goes dead every time it's parked for a bit there could be a draw like a light staying on or something...

Yurhomieblaze

could be bad alt, i've bought a new one just to have it go bad in a week
bad battery? maybe not taking charge.
or check for loose connections, loose belt tension

and if you have to check the alt, start the car and check for about 13-14v coming off the alternator (any ground and big white wire secured by a nut on top the alt)

DoubleSh0t

iTrader: (1)

Definitely sounds like your alternator is bad - check it with a multimeter like Blaze said.

Mike86

Yeah the quality of parts has gone way downhill. My dad is a retired mechanic and he had to deal with a lot of faulty parts that just were defective right out of the box. So much for quality control these days...

49er

Check first that your ground wire is fully connected, not rusted . You maybe finding you may have a bad ground or cable that is discharging the battery.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

sounds like the alternator isn't connected to the positive connections correctly

arstraub

Re-charged the battery, putting on new terminals tonight, getting the alt. replaced in the morning...JOY

DoubleSh0t

iTrader: (1)

I hope it works out for you this time.

arstraub

I changed the + terminal last night but left the -, come to find out this morning, it was a bad terminal connection the whole time...for the freakin' love, all that trouble for terminals!!

DoubleSh0t

iTrader: (1)

That'll do it. At least you know it's fixed!

Yurhomieblaze

just a future reminder beware of bad corrosion on the terminals(or any connection), it can cause just as many problems as a bad battery/alt. (battery discharge, poor charging/starting, weak lights)

saiko_cl_duck

I had to replace my positive battery cable, what a pain in the ass, it was corroded beyond belief.

arstraub

so, after having the terminals replaced 2x by 2 different places, turns out it was a bad alternator the whole time...pep boys is going to get chewed out asap haha

Yurhomieblaze

damn, thats a lesson i learned the hard way also,
alway make them test your new alt, starter, battery when you buy it at the store. you figure it should be good cause it's new but ya never know till you test it. i've had bad alt's and batteries from the store.

peters_sweet_CL

This shit keeps happening to me. I got the battery (3 years old) and alternator tested and it was fine. New starter installed last year. Its wierd because Ill be sitting waiting in the car with the radio on and then the car wont start and Id have to wait a while for it to start again. I charged the battery, and still, everytime I try to start the car either in the morning or whenever, its really weak and barely turns over. All the lights inside the car are really dim. Do you think I should just get a new battery??? It's really annoying to deal with EVERYDAY.

peters_sweet_CL

by the way, when I got the battery tested the guy said that the voltage is actually at 11.08 and that my cranking power or something was at 0 but for some reason, it'll still start. strange

OttaWacK

^^ what brand of battery do you have? Maybe it is a POS. Most guys here will obviously recommend a yellow top. I know that most batteries have a 3 year warranty. Maybe get the store to honour the warranty for a new battery considering it does not want to crank the engine over.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

That's definitely a battery issue if it's only running at 11 volts