About 2-3 weeks ago I replace my exhaust, everything from the cat back, BRAND NEW. Previous to that the alternator was changed, a month or 2 before that the battery was replaced. Just recently the lights in my car started going haywire. Air bag, brake and battery. The brake light had been an off and on thing for about 4 days. The battery light came on yesterday. The car died on me tonight, JUST as I pulled up to my house.

Can some PLEASE tell me if there is any explanation or correlation. I've replaced so much on this car, I just can't take it!!

 

Alternator is faulty most likely.

 

Check your alternator harness, you might have messed up the pins. If the alternator checks out, I bet it's the harness - that's what happened to me

 

Where did you get the alternator from?

 

Oh my god. You gotta be kidding me. The guy at advanced auto parts said if they used the welder to remove the exhaust that could have done damage.

 

lol your first mistake was asking the guy at Advanced Auto to diagnose the problem.

 

This.

Bring it in and have em test it.

 

I was scared the car was going to die and that was the closest place

 

1: WHY would someone use a WELDER to REMOVE the exhaust?

2: what does removing the exhaust have to do with the alternator not working? Lol

 

Into where?

 

I have no clue. I'm just totally frustrated with this car. The guy said the welder could have blown a fuse and the ground cables could be messed up. (Something to that effect) Though I'm not quite sure it's the alternator yet

 

I'm not sure if its the alternator completely. I doubt a car can run two days on just battery, even though the light was on. I really don't know where to go from here. I'm at wits end with this car

 

I hope that's the case! Now I have to figure out how to get the car up the street to the shop. I KNOW it won't start.

 

A car parts place. I wouldn't call it a junk yard but similar too. It's smaller and they check the parts before reselling.

 

If the car starts, it's not the starter.
If your battery is new as of a few weeks, that should be fine too. You can check the battery voltage with a multimeter.

Your exhaust has nothing to do with it, unless somehow the person installing it was an insane moron.

And finally, check your alternator. Take it to Advanced or whatever the closest place is that can do it, and have them bench test your alternator. Chances are, you will discover your problem right then.

But if not, then more info is gonna be needed after this. You should get yourself a jump from a friend, and if it's the alternator the car should start. Then you can drive to the auto store, have them test your alternator, and get yourself a battery charging station so you can start the car until you fix the alternator. I would never use anything but a brand new alternator for the replacement and make sure you get professional installation if you're at all unsure about doing the job.

 

1) Nobody uses a welder (electric) to remove an exhaust system, they might use a torch (gas).
2) The person who told you this is an idiot.
3) Check all connections first, both at the alty and at the battery. Take the positive cable connection completely apart. There's one or two additional wires that tie into the terminal. Make sure all are clean and secure.

 

Similar thing happened to me while back, turned out to be a bad negative terminal cable from battery to the chassis. check negative cable, give it a tug.

 

Ill have to try that, I know the battery was tested and it turned out to be fine. This was Thursday and I believe the alt was still running, even with the battery light on. Other it would have died way before I finished the nights errands. Being that the car didn't die until last night, this is why I don't want to put all my chips on the alt. ( being that one just died on me and it was classic case of a bad alt. didn't even last 2hrs)

 

Your absolutely right. I'm only 22 and this is my first car. I'm learning as I go. Now I was told something about ground cable or cables in general. Hopefully this is the issue and not the alt.

Now do I need mechanic to do this? Or this something I can do myself?

 

I had a friends come and jump me long enough to drive it up the street to the mechanic. He said he'll call me sometime this morning with an answer. Hopefully it's just that.

 

If it only starts with a jump then your battery is drained. Your either have a faulty alternator or it wasn't properly installed.

If you cannot search to learn how to check the alternator connections nor the battery GND cable then just go to a mechanic.

 

That's why I took it straight to the shop, I didn't trust myself to look at the right thing. I highly doubt it's the alternator, only because of the person who installed it. He was one of those friend of the family/under the table guys and I didn't really trust him 100%. His car logic never made complete sense and he always gave me a hassle. Hopefully my mechanic calls me says it was improperly installed and not damaged. Ground cable issues would be even better. Now I recently had a head light go out but it didn't blow. Replaced it and the new one took a couple of minutes/tries to come on. Is that a sign of ground cable issues?