Here's my situation....Last night I started my car (2000 SE) upon turning the car off I could not start it again! I went a purchased a new battery which allowed me to start it. Now I am wondering if it's my alternator. Has anyone had theirs replaced. What was the cost (at the stealership). Also what was the cost of the Alternator itself?

Just wondering exactly how much I am going to have to shell out if it turns out being my alternator.

Thanks

 

turn the car on, then disconnect the battery. if the car dies the alternator is bad.
new one should be around $200 i think

 

This is exactly what I was going to try but didn't know if it only applied to GM cars.

Thanks!

 

You'll get a battery light if it's the alternator.

Other way to tell is by hooking up a voltmeter before the car is started(should be around or slightly less then 12-volts typically), then start the car and it should be close to 14-volts IIRC. Anything above 13-volts and it's working.

 

Went outside and first disconnected Negative cable...Car did not stall out......I next disconnected the Positive cable (not knowing if it made a difference). Car continued to run without any problems.

Just weird that the battery would just die and not give me any warning signs. Shouldn't I have at lease gotten the Battery light illuminated on the dash?

I just hope it's not failing slowly and it dies on me when I am further away from a repair shop!

 

That's not weird...happens ALL THE TIME to me at least. Batteries just get a bad cell or something and then you can't even jumpstart it with the battery connected.

Just get a voltmeter and test the voltage with the car running or you can always go to your local Autozone and they'll do it with an analyzer for FREE.

 

Cool, thats what i'm gonna do tonight. I don't think it's my allternator but I would rather be safe than sorry!

Thanks to all for input!

 

Yeah, just tell the Autozone guy that your battery died, but you think your alternator might have killed it.

Their analyzer supposedly puts a load on the electrical system while measuring the voltage/current output of the alternator, so they can see if it's keeping up.