so about a month ago my car begins giving me **** when i try to start it. it always starts, but id have to let it crank for longer and longer before it would start. i took it to the auto parts store and they told me my battery was bad (it was 2yrs old) and i bought a new one and everything was gravy.

about 2 weeks after that a friend and i are installing a second amp in my car (a 100 watt amp- for a total of 500 watts). we get everything installed and we go drive around a listen/tune the system. while were driving my dash dims, the amps shut off, and eventually my tach dies, and subsequently the rest of my car dies as well.

we figure it has something to do with the new aps we installed so we just keep the stereo off and head towards home. when were on i-95 trying to get home, the car dies again, so i unhook the power supply for the amps from the battery and we start up and drive again, only to die again a few more miles down the road. so i have the car towed back to my house.

the next day (today) i wake up and drive my car around to the back yard to work on it, and everything is normal. i leave it running in my yard to see if it will die again, and alas, it does, after about ten minutes. from what ive read online and in the helm's manual, this sounds like an alternator problem.

my car has 107k mile son it, and ive never touched the alternator (the car has been mine since about 78k miles). i was going to call the acura dealership today see how much a new alternator would cost me and, if i needed it, how much it would be to install.

i do have the helms and the will to try and replace it myself, but paramount to me is the well being of my vehicle (i.e. i dont want to **** it up trying to fix it). so, what should i do? how much SHOULD an alternator run me? thanks in advance for any help/suggestions

mike


[Edited for viewing pleasure before I went blind]

[By EVIL Teken, the most respected Moderator in the M&M world]

 

It does sound like an alternator problem. There is a test that can to verify that. My dealer does battery/alternator testing for free.

HTH, Rainmaker

 

definitely sounds like an alternator problem....once the car is started the battery doesnt really play into things....BUT the alternator is responsible for re-charging the battery while the car is running which is probably the reason your car wouldnt start as easily since if the alternator is going bad it wouldnt have charged the battery to full charge causing your car to take a bit longer to start.

 

check your ground wires and your alternator.. between the times it does.. do you recharge the battery w/ a battery charger or something? because if the alternator just quit and isnt putting out power.. it would be using/draining power from your battery to run the car/accessories until the reserve power from the batt is drained.. then everything would be dead... it would be using power from the battery doesnt kragen and Autozone do battery and alternator testing for free?

 

following the instructions of someone else on the board, i checked the voltage of the battery when the car is off. it read about 11.7 volts. i started the car and that number slooowly dropped to about 6 volts, when the car shut down.

i pulled the alternator fuse and the same thing happened.

i called the local acura dealer (duval acura) and described my problem. they said it sounded like it was my alternator or my main relay (i looked briefly through my helms, and couldnt find anything on a main relay). they quoted me $357 for a new alternator (without labor). they also said they would have to order it, because they had none in stock.

i double checked all the wiring and grounding for the amps i installed, and everything seems fine. im pretty sure it has nothign to do with that wiring because i tested the voltage with all my accessories off anf disconnected from the battery.

so does it sound like my problem is definatley my alternator? tomorrow im going to jack my car up and try to take a more direct look at the alternator and run the more involved test the helms manual suggests. thanks to all for your help!

mike

 

jesus christ, $357 without labor? even with ******* labor thats absurd.....do yourself a favor and dont even consider paying that price.

 

Go to your local Advance Auto parts store, Pep Boys, Auto Zone and have them do a load test on your system (it's a free service). They will tell you if your charging system is ok ie: battery, alternator. It would be worth while to get a spare alt. from the local boneyard to have just in case you can even have it rewound to put out more juice. I jacked mine up to 130 amps and it runs my stereo and other accessories just fine and cost me $150. to have it done.

 

yeah, $357 is a shitload of money, especially when i dont have a job........

i'd take my car to an autozone/pep boys, but i dont think my car will run long enough to make it there.

ive been searching around this forum a little more, and i read that 'the alternator only charges when it gets 12V from the ECM'. what/where is the ECM? how can i make sure the alternator is getting this signal?

mike


[Modified by cannon_man, 8:08 PM 6/11/2002]

 

i think its your alternator or something w/ your charing system...when the car is started shouldnt it be at like 13.8-14.4V or something? I know it shouldnt be at 6V w/ the car started and running..

 

oh the car isnt running when im @ 6V.......thats when it shuts down...

 

damnit now my car wont start!

mike

 

check the fuse for the alternator, it most likely is a in-line fuse (never checked or changed mine), but it is probably a 75amp fuse, and putting in a lot of hardware can cause the alternator to need to push more amperage than the fuse can handle, this is a fail-safe for the alternator, cause it will just keep on making more amperage till it burns itself out.

check that first before you throw a new alternator at it.