hey guys, for about the last week I have had trouble starting the car. Sometimes it works perfect for days, then all of a sudden when I try to start it again, its like the battery is dead. It does this off and on. It worked for the last couple of days and then today at the store I go to start it and theres no power at all, my buddy gave me a boost it started, but on the way home the stereo would shut off, and come back on. Any suggestions? Im gonns be starting school in a couple of weeks which is almost an hour drive so I cant have the car doing this.

 

It might be your starter not the alternator.How old is the battery,and do you keep it charged when its not being used ??

 

starter is from the junk yard about a year old, the battery is about 3 years old

 

Start your car and check it there is charge on your terminals if there is then your alternator is good. With starting issues you might want to check the starter. Also I would check the crack sensor by the tranny its knows to cause starting issues

 

Sounds exactly like the same kind of symptoms I had with my starter until you got the point where you said your stereo is cutting on and off while driving...that wouldn't be a starter symptom I don't think...

 

I also forgot to add, a couple times there was a weird noise like a fast ticking when the ignition was on, it sounded like it was coming from around the park neutral switch(automatic) area. Did the adjustment for that, charged the battery. Worked good for 2 days then again would not start(no power). About an hour ago Charged the battery again and cleaned the battery posts, it started, wtf could be the problem???

 

If you have to charge the battery for it to run...then...your battery is not charging. Most likely the alternator although it is possible for it to be the field wire to the alt or the alt output wiring. Buy a cheap dvom (5 bucks) and check voltage at the battery with it running, should be around 14.7 volts.

 

if this checks out you might want to check how many amps the alt is putting out. They can put out the volts but not enough amps

 

Actually you can not have one without the other in the case where a load is present. Assuming that the battery is good, if there is proper voltage present then there is also the proper amount of current. (it gets kinda nerdy to go any deeper but thats basically how it works). The fact that a charged battery will start and run it for 2 days tells me the battery is fine (at least for now as this behavior will destroy it)

 

If battery posts are corroded or dirty you can get those type of symptoms. There is a chance the cleaning may solve your problems. It's more common then you think.

 

i was having the same problem then my ac compressor went out..... =/

 

I agree but my only thoughts against this are that if he charges the battery it is fine for a few days telling me that the current is getting out of the battery through the terminals with no problem.

 

thanks for the input guys, right now it is starting(but whenever I charge the battery it seems to work for a couple days), Im thinking if there is a drain somewhere, but I dont know where it could come from I took all aftermarket stuff that would need a positive off. Either way this sucks!

 

Spend the 5 bucks on a dvom and prove or disprove the problem.

 

no offense but you are absolutely WRONG ,remember that other people are going to read this to find out information so that is why I am stating this.
not only is it possible in theory, I have seen this countless times in the shop.
something to think about to put it in perspective(maybe???)
the different electrical devices on your car generally operate from a 12 volt platform , however almost all of them pull different amounts of amps.this is why we have different rated fuses.
we can discuss OHMS law till morning but experience is experience,and I am just trying to pass that along, that is all.

 

I am far from wrong, and where does ohms law come into this? Voltage is the potential for work (current). Each circuit has a different rated fuse to protect it if the current rises above what it was designed to draw. The alternator is designed with a variable field to adjust for varying current draws yet puts out a constant 14.7 volts regardless of what accessories you are using at the time. His battery is good as proven by the fact that if charged it will start and run the car for a few days, therefore , if the alternator was supplying the required current to recharge the battery the voltage would read a constant of 14.7 or so with the current varying dependent on the discharged state of the battery and accessory draw at the current time. A vr works off of voltage, when voltage is low the square wave to the field is shortened which increases the field strength and increases alternator amperage output yet the voltage remains constant.

 

listen , i am not trying to ,or will i ,argue with anyone about my expirence.
to further this, the fact that you question the very basics of electricity,hence omhs law, furthers my my stand on not turning this into a debate.I value everyones opinion and experience and if you dont value mine then just disregard it...its that simple to me. I do my best to share my experience with peolpe. this is not an opinion this is something that I have seen in the field...that can not be debated.just like I am sure that there are a lot of things other people experience with cars that I havent,in those cases I certainly dont try to convince them that their expeience didnt happen .
everything I believe is subject to revision,esspecially what I believe to be the truth!
I hope this causes no hard feelings

 

No hard feelings, but in this case experience differs from reality. facts are facts. I in no way question Ohms law but fail to see how you incorporate it into this equation.

 

id bet on the alternator being bad. the battery is taking a charge from your charger so obviously its not that. the alt is probably working intermittently or weakly or not at all. the radio dying was probably the alternator failing to give adequate juice to the system. maxima alternators seem to wok intermittently and have occasional surges before they die outright. I have had a lot of mechanical experience but this is still just my opinion . good luck

 

Ok i think I thought of a way to articulate my experience in this matter.Facts are only facts if they cant be disproved, in this case you yourself support what Iam saying "The alt is designed with variable field to adjust for varying current draws yet puts out a constant 14.7 volts..."
If you look in the FSM on page of el-36 i think, in the specification chart it shows you the different amp outputs at differnt rpms.I agree that the FSM doesnt tell you to check for amps ,I guess sometimes not everything is in the book? anyway ,we can buy different amp rated alts all day long that put out the standard voltage . Alts can put out correct voltage and not enough amps hence the battery doesnt get a good charge because the "juice" is being used to operate the car and not enough is left to give the battery a good charge.

About ohms law, I actually just threw that in there to say we can talk about electricty all we want ,it doesnt change how it works! with out ohms law we wouldnt be talking about this because we wouldnt have computers,alts,or any other electrical device for that matter .

I read back over this thread And would like to appologize my first post,it sounds really rude and I didnt mean it to be.I actually argued this fact the first time my boss told me to check the amp output on a car too, that was in 1991.