Alright, the car is a 95 hatchback with b16...engine has been in there for about a year. I replaced the alternator and radiator last week and it has been running fine until today. I tried to start it at lunch but all that happened is that it made a constant clicking noise in the interior and the engine was turning over. So after work i got the car jumped and it started fine, but once i turned the lights on it died. HOW does that happen??? I'm completely lost and do not know where to start...I appreciate all help

 

Dead Batt? Loose batt ground?

 

hmm thats what i was kind of thinking...but any explanation for why it would die after i turned the lights on?

 

Starter relay for the clicking possibly, and the ELD (electric load detector) for the lights killing it maybe.

 

hmm so for the ELD, i would have to replace the underhood fuse box..and the car would not run if this was bad?

 

Might be the alternator not charging the battery which is making you jump start the car then when you turn on the lights it requires a lot of juice to maintain and it dies after that. Could be a bad alternator.

 

any other ideas...alternator is really new

 

where did you buy the alternator, just curious because i work in the shop for pep boys and i know our parts are horrible, usually you get 1 good starter/alternator for every 2 bad ones. so in short don't buy **** from pep boys.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by usdmEHboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm thats what i was kind of thinking...but any explanation for why it would die after i turned the lights on?</TD></TR></TABLE>

How long did the car run without the lights on? Did you make it 15 feet? If the batt is dead or a loose ground anything that drains it will kill it. Jumping it is fine for so much. Bust out the volt meter and during idle see what voltage the batt is reading.

Another thing could be that the 80A batt fuse is dead. If thats the case then your batt isnt being charged.

 

It sounds like a bad battery to me. When you had the car jump started did you let it run for awhile before turning on the lights? Usually i will try to let the car run for atleast 15 min if possible above 55mph to allow the alt to recharge the battery. It is possible that your alt went out even after a week, do you have any oil leaks anywhere if you do check to see if the coil in the alt has oil on it. Also any corrosion on the battery terminals, and make sure you have a tight connection. Did you have the battery fully recharged when you put in the new alt? Do you live by an autozone? They check batterys, alt, and starters and some other things for free they will also recharge you battery for free.

 

bad grounds maybe. i have an eg that would run OK, not well but ok, until i turned the air and lights on together. Then it would shut off. I even replaced the grounds, helped a litle, ut not enough, so i made 2 of my own extra grounds. Runs great now, well, at least i don't have a problem with grounds anymore.

 

i say bad alternator.

after you start your car, your alternator takes over. Turning on the headlights puts stress on the amps and since the alternator may be bad, their is not enough amps to run your car....hence your car stalls.


lates

 

jump the car and start it pull your battery ground and if it dies bad alternator

 

do a voltage drop on the battery when you're cranking. batt voltage shouldnt drop more than 9.6v.. if so, replace battery.

 

it's a fuse

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by usdmEHboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alright, the car is a 95 hatchback with b16...engine has been in there for about a year. I replaced the alternator and radiator last week and it has been running fine until today. I tried to start it at lunch but all that happened is that it made a constant clicking noise in the interior and the engine was turning over. So after work i got the car jumped and it started fine, but once i turned the lights on it died. HOW does that happen??? I'm completely lost and do not know where to start...I appreciate all help </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like your alternator is not in correctly. The alternator charges the battery. Maybe your car had run on the battery for a long time. You might not have noticed the battery light being on in your dash. When you went to start it, the battery was dead. You jumped it, so it ran. The ignitiion and ECU and whatnots dont really take much "juice" to run. When you turn on the lights, however, the battery cant put out the amps/volts. So the car turns off.

Was your battery light on in your dash? Does your battery light work? Check all connections between the alternator and the battery. Make sure the fuse for the "ELD" or electronic load detector is not bad. If your ELD fuse is bad, your alternator will not charge your battery.

Also, check the grounding strap from the trans to the chassis and the grounding strap from the valve cover to the core supporrt. If these are not in, or in properly, it can cause the problem you're talking about and there will be no battery light in the dash sometimes.

Make sure the connection to your battery terminals is good. If your battery terminals are loose, the alternator will not charge the battery, and there will be no battery light in your dash either.

The battery light comes on when the battery charge is MORE than the alternator charge. Meaning the alternator has failed or has some sort of issue.

 

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

Sounds like your alternator is not in correctly. The alternator charges the battery. Maybe your car had run on the battery for a long time. You might not have noticed the battery light being on in your dash. When you went to start it, the battery was dead. You jumped it, so it ran. The ignitiion and ECU and whatnots dont really take much "juice" to run. When you turn on the lights, however, the battery cant put out the amps/volts. So the car turns off.

Was your battery light on in your dash? Does your battery light work? Check all connections between the alternator and the battery. Make sure the fuse for the "ELD" or electronic load detector is not bad. If your ELD fuse is bad, your alternator will not charge your battery.

Also, check the grounding strap from the trans to the chassis and the grounding strap from the valve cover to the core supporrt. If these are not in, or in properly, it can cause the problem you're talking about and there will be no battery light in the dash sometimes.

Make sure the connection to your battery terminals is good. If your battery terminals are loose, the alternator will not charge the battery, and there will be no battery light in your dash either.

The battery light comes on when the battery charge is MORE than the alternator charge. Meaning the alternator has failed or has some sort of issue. </TD></TR></TABLE>

WOW thanks for all the help...i will definitely check all these out...(the battery lights hasn't came on since i installed the alternator