I was taking a road trip last night and I had major car problems. I've got a '99 teg LS, it's got 50k miles on it. While I was driving the CEL light came on and my speedometer stopped working, this isn't the first time this has happened...so I just figured that the fuse blew again...but then the ABS light came on and then the oil light and then the ABS light went off and the SRS light came on. It was at this point that my radio turned off and the radar detector plugged into the cig lighter. About 1 minute later cluster lights dimmed and the car died. I pulled off and got it jumped from a passer by. It ran for about 5 minutes, then died again. I figured that the battery was old and done with. So a friend brought a new one....hooked everything up and everything sounded great. Started driving again...15 minutes later the exact same thing happened....CEL light came on, then SRS and soon everything started shutting off and the car died. Both times as the car would start to die, my alarm would start chirping....it would keep chirping while the car was off, until I unplugged the battery.

I'm wondering what should I do to troubleshoot this. In the past, I forgot my lights on before and the battery died. And every since then the auto start on my alarm hasn't worked. I'm not sure if this could have anything to do with the current problem.

My car is currently in the garage, fuses are all new and the battery is one day old. No CEL light, but it won't start and if it does, it only stays on for about 30 seconds.

I'm wondering, could it be the alarm, alternator, regulator, etc..... Any help would be great...thanks.

 

If you have a voltmeter. start the car, check the voltage at the one wire on the back of the alternator.It should be 14.5volts.If its less your alt. is not charging fully.

 

What should be done if it's not charged fully?

 

Check the rectifier first, if that's not it then replace the entire alternator.

 

What should be done if it's not charged fully?

 

Hey man same exact thing happen to me on the freeway. Lights go dim, radio turned off, mph needle just goes down. Damn exactly. Take it from me, I had the same problem and this is how I fixed it. Simply open up the panel cover for the ecu. Disconnect battery wire, and disconnect the ecu from the car for about 15 minutes. Then hook it back up. This should solve your problem. If it doesnt, someone told me it can be a bad ecu. For me it worked out fine. I first thought it could be the battery dead or something, or the alternator wasnt charging the battery or something. But nope, it was all cause of the ECU!!!!! Try it.

 

Hey, Ok I'm going to try that. I haven't messed with the ecu before though. Can someone tell me where the panel cover is for the ecu? Then I can go and try that out...I really hope it works. I really need my car....I want to go snowboarding, but can't get up the mountain without it.

Thanks

 

Its under the dash of the passenger side. More to the right side of where your feet go, under the glovebox, to the right. Once you open it, you will see the ecu and a bunch of wires. Unplug the 3 plugs that go into the ecu. Make sure your battery is disconnected. Remember, 15 minutes.

 

Thanks for the advice, but it didn't work. The car still died after running for about 10 minutes. But I'm pretty sure that it's my alternator now. While it was running the negative battery came off accidentally and the car died....and I guess that's the sign that the alternator isn't making any power. So I guess I've got to replace that. Does that sound like what I should do? Does anyone have anything else that I could try or any other idea's what could be wrong? I'm going to order a new alternator in a few days...so if you could let me know before then. Is it ok to buy a used one? About how long are they supposed to last, because my car's only got 50k miles.

But I guess while the car is out of commission, I guess this is the perfect time to slap on my turbo kit.

 

...one more thing. Does anyone think that a faulty alarm/auto start could have something to do with these problems?

Thanks

 

Not likely. The current draw from an alarm is very insignifigant compared to other elements in your car's electrical system. The only instance where I'd see it being a concern is if you had the car in storage and it sat idle for a long period of time. I'm talking about over a year. So, I think you can rule this possibility out.

Do however check for interior lights, fog lights, etc... drawing current while you've left the vehicle. This is obvious.

But, I'd replace the alternator, and go from there. It's a case of a process of elimination.

I hope things work out.

 

The reason I asked about the alarm is because it has an autostart feature....which messes with the electrical things during autostart. And I know that I took it into get it fixed because during auto start it wasn't turning the AC on. So I guess they had to rewire somethings to make the Accessories II come on during autostart. Could messing with that have caused any of these problems. Like a short in the starter or alternator or something like that. I'm new to all of this electrical stuff...so I'm not sure what might cause what. I will order a used alternator today, just to see if that's the problem.

Thanks

 

Man youre alternator is gone. nuff said. Id just go to autozone and order a remanufactured unit. itll cost you about 75 bucks plus your old one. you said it was a 99?? id check to see if there was a recall on 99 teg alternators. but thats definently your problem.

 

i disagree. alarm systems "can" be a cause to your dilemna. that happened to my friend who's right beside me right now. he can tell you, because of this generic alarm system he bought and wired it himself. the alternator wasn't charging fully. he got it to kragens and got a mulitmeter to get it read, and it's for free. that's your best bet. if you have a friend who's electrically inlcined, borrow a multimeter. and get it read. another thing, does the motor die out before your console parts go out? your situation, is what happened to me last year, bad alternator...

 

Yeah, the reason that I keep asking what might be the problem is because all of this kinda started after I got the alarm "fixed". I'm thinking that it might be the alarm. But I don't want to take my broken car to the people that installed the alarm, if what's wrong with the car doesn't have anything to do with the alarm. However, I also don't want to fix the alternator and then 2 months down the line, I'm in the same situation.

Can I only check the alternator with a full battery? Or is there anyway to check it without one? And how do I check it?

Oh and, my motor dies after the radio turns off, cig lighter outlet stops working, console lights and headlights go dim...and then the alarm starts chirping, while it starts to idle rough (really rough), and then the motor dies.

Keep the suggestions coming people, thanks!

 

the best true test of your alternator is to start your car, and disconnect your battery with it running. if it runs fine forever, your alternator is fine. if it dies out, your alternator is bad. i know this sounds wierd, but its true.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the install and the repairs were not properly done for the autostart. (BTW... an autostart and an alarm are two seperate systems that are configured to work together, you should have said that the first time.) And coincidentally, your failing alternator simply exacerbated a problem only made apparent by your failing auto start. But, since I can't see it for myself I've decided to make an educated guess.

If the auto start is wired incorrectly it can easily drain the battery. It sounds like install error to me.

But, I'd still replace the alternator.


[Modified by Clonaid, 1:57 AM 1/4/2003]

 

The alternator is dead - FACE THE FACTS!

 

Why are you yelling ?

I'm a little dense. Would you care to share with us what the facts are?

 

Thanks everyone...I think I've decided what I'm going to do. I'm going to first replace the alternator and then as soon as it's up and running I'm going to get the alarm rewired. Because I really think that it has something to do with it. I skimmed through the alarm install directions and it mentioned something about being wired to the alternator...so I'm not ruling it out of the picture as a problem. But I did remove the neg battery when it was started and it died...so I know for surely that the alternator is bad. If anyone has any more suggestions go right ahead. Thanks again.