Last night while driving home from work I noticed that my guages were not working at all. The needles were not moving but the lights were on. It was late so I didn't think too much of it because I remembered there's a fuse for the guage cluster so I figured it just blew. This morning driving to school, my radio started going on and off, and the clock light started dimming. I knew something was up, I pulled over to the side, and sure enough the car died. I thought I broke a belt so I had it towed to a shop who informed me it was the alternator. After they installed another alternator it seemed to be holding the charge fine. I drove the car home (approximately 10 miles). As I got closer to home I noticed the car was very sluggish and would bog a bit and the clock began to dim again. If i tured on the headlights, the radio would turn off and the clock would turn off completely. I managed to get the car in my driveway and it was idling VERY rough. If I turned on the headlights and gave it gas I would get a loud popping noise from somewhere on the leftside (battery side) of the engine compartment. As soon as I turned the car off it would not turn over again. I called the shop, they said the buy a new battery and drive it back and they would check it, that maybe it's a short somewhere?

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

battery or alternator..

 

Shop should have loadtested the battery before gouging you for an alternator first. Now it sounds like the battery now because the alternator is new. But if the battery is the real problem, what are you going to do about an alternator that might/might not have been bad?

 

it's a one month old optima red top. i know it's not the deep cycle so could losing the charge like that have messed up the battery?

 

alternator..

and FYI.. i hear the yellow top was best

 

I have an oil soaked alternator with a shaved ear I could sell you

LOL

CK... Something tells me they didn't do something right, it could be something as stupid as belt tension. Or you could have gotten a bum rebuild. That would suck tho.

Del

 

Did you check your connections to the altenator? Mabe the shop didn't connect they propertly.


Frank

 

This is funny, (sorry I meant in an ironic way) my friend's 96 GST eclipse is having the EXACT same problem... well amongst a host of others. We got it to run again after jumping it from a VERY big truck, and have had to push start it since. He ALSO has an optima red top battery that is not very old. Could there be a correlation? He got the same symptoms, rough idle, car dies suddenly, won't turn over afterward. We initially thought it was a bad starter motor, but it's more likely that that battery doesn't want to hold a charge. I'm pretty dumb about electrical matters so maybe we could help each other out. We're taking it to a shop today to have them run an electrical diagnostic. Good luck. I'll get back to you if I find somethin out!

 

chances are when u killed ur first alternator...it was riding on battery...drained it...replaced the alternator...but mechanic did not check battery...battery was drained...therefore it cannot hold no mo charge...replace the battery....thas my bet...u can jumpstart the car...it will drive...but when u turn it off...bet u can't turn it back on...symptom of bad battery...

 

 

dank yoo

 

I just replaced my alternator on my parents car with a lifetime-warrantied rebuilt unit from Kragen. The Kragen guy stuck in a leaflet in the box which basically said to make sure the battery is fully charged before using the new alternator or it will damage the alternator and void the warranty. Maybe thats what happened in your case???

 

Yellow tops are not designed for starting. Go with a Red-Top Deep Cycle.

Ant