Can anybody tell me what is wrong with my car. It starts up fine most of the time, but sometimes it doesnt. I think it could be my alternator. Any ideas? What are symptons of a bad alternator?

 

bad alternator= dead battery

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by egryda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">bad alternator= dead battery</TD></TR></TABLE>

main relay

 

My battery is good. It's only ~3months old. The engine cranks up, but it just wont turn over. Any ideas what it could be?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by siregcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">main relay </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Dizzy maybe?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aallbbeerrtttttt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

how sure are you that the battery is good? just because it's 3 months old?

if you have a bad alternator, you can drive that battery bad in about 2 hours, or if your alternator is going bad, it might take a while longer

if the car just constantly tries to start, but doesn't turn over, you have a battery/fuel/spark problem

if the car just clicks once and nothing else, you have a 100% dead battery or a bad starter</TD></TR></TABLE>

It could be fuel related to. As I was trying to start it up I could hear something buzzing from under/behind me. Could it have been the fuel pump?? Im going to take the alternator to Autozone and have it tested out. How would I go about testing the fuel and spark?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by siregcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

main relay </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry for being such a noob. But could you tell me where the main relay is? Thanks.

 

okay.. before you do anything... get in your car.. make shure there is no noise... turn the key to run and listen for a click.. like whent he check engine light comes on and turns off there should be a noticeably loud click... if you dont hear it the main relay is bad... or you listen for the fuel pump.. maybe its a fuse..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by siregcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">okay.. before you do anything... get in your car.. make shure there is no noise... turn the key to run and listen for a click.. like whent he check engine light comes on and turns off there should be a noticeably loud click... if you dont hear it the main relay is bad... or you listen for the fuel pump.. maybe its a fuse.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Is the click before the lights come on or after? I wont be able to test it out until I get home, I am work right now. I want to know everything I can do/test so I can do it all once I get home.

 

turn the key to run.. check engine light should come on and go off within 10 seconds and it should click...

if you have a friend.. have him open the bleeder valve to the fuel filter and turn the key to run to see if theres fuel pressure.. or get an extra spark plug and pull a plug wire and hook the plug to it put the plug on a metal spot on the chassis and see if theyre is spark

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by siregcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">turn the key to run.. check engine light should come on and go off within 10 seconds and it should click...

if you have a friend.. have him open the bleeder valve to the fuel filter and turn the key to run to see if theres fuel pressure.. or get an extra spark plug and pull a plug wire and hook the plug to it put the plug on a metal spot on the chassis and see if theyre is spark </TD></TR></TABLE>

I will check on it. This is weird, I doubt its the spark but I'll check on that anyways. I also forgot to mention that when I tried starting the car by push starting it, it dies right when it catches it. I try it again, and the same outcome. I let the car sit a few minutes and this time I just turn the key and it turns over but dies instantly. It eventually started up fine and I drove it here to work. I hope this little bit of info can help you out more in figuring out whats wrong with it.

 

i have the same problem ,car was driving fine the day before , wouldnt start this morning, fuel pump is powerin up ,fuel comes out the filter, not sure if it should be high pressure (possible blocked filter?). any one got any ideas ?