Car Help -Battery Or Altenator?

A

ArtificialLife

New member
Ok. I drive a 97 mitsubiti galant. Over the last 8 months or so, my car has killed about 3 batteries. I have taken it to several places. Every time I go I get another story. Ive been told that my battery was too small for my car, thous causing my battery to die prematurely. Second time, Ive been told that my alternator was bad, and that I need a new one. Then yesterday, I was told that I needed a new battery, cause once again it was too small.

Here are some facts about my car. Ever since I received it as a gift 3 yrs ago, the light dim sometimes, but only for a split second, then they return back to normal. Ive have gotton a new belt put on about 6 months ago, and I have gotton that tightened twice since then, but it still squeals sometimes. When my car sits for more than 36 hours or so, it has a rough start up or doesn't start up at all. Could something be draining my battery. I make sure nothing is left on when I get out the car. Ive been to autozone and they tested my altenator and the said it was fine, just that I needed a bigger battery for my car. At this time I am really getting fustrated. Can anyone help?
 
the alternator. this thing keeps the energy flow from the battery and recycle back to the battery and all other parts of the car, eg radio, light etc. When the alternator is giving way, the scenerio is, the energy flows from the battery to the alternator does not remain and thus, when you try to switch on the light or radio, there is simply not enough energy to boost, but instead, just drain off in it. Thats why after sometime that you did not ignite your engine, certain things fail.
 
It is very possible your car has a parasitic drain. Every car has some drain with engine off and .050 amps or less is acceptable. To find out if your car does, disconnect the negative cable and put a jumper wire between it and the negative terminal. Then wait 1 hr for the modules to time out. With the jumper wire still in place, connect an amp meter between the neg cable and post. Then disconnect the jumper. The drain should show on the meter. Make sure your meter can handle 20 amps to start and go smaller if needed. If the drain is larger than .050 amps, disconnect fuses (making sure you know where they go back) until you find the circuit causing the drain. Note, sometimes alternators that test good can still cause an amp draw. Once the circuit is identified, find out what is on that circuit and disconnect each component and watch the draw. If there is a component that don't work properly, start there. Remember, whatever you remove, you must put back on. Be careful.
 
While the car is running loosen and remove the negative terminal from your battery. If the car dies you have a bad alternator. If it keeps running, it is not necessarily the battery. You could have a load drain somewhere else.

Sears will usually do a system check very reasonably.
 
While the car is running loosen and remove the negative terminal from your battery. If the car dies you have a bad alternator. If it keeps running, it is not necessarily the battery. You could have a load drain somewhere else.

Sears will usually do a system check very reasonably.
 
While the car is running loosen and remove the negative terminal from your battery. If the car dies you have a bad alternator. If it keeps running, it is not necessarily the battery. You could have a load drain somewhere else.

Sears will usually do a system check very reasonably.
 
While the car is running loosen and remove the negative terminal from your battery. If the car dies you have a bad alternator. If it keeps running, it is not necessarily the battery. You could have a load drain somewhere else.

Sears will usually do a system check very reasonably.
 
Back
Top