ok the other night my car was running fine.. then all of a sudden while i was driving the radio cut off.. n then the heat.. and then my gauge and headlights were getting real dim.. the needles on my gauge were jumping back and forth from zero to whatever speed i was going at the time.. i got to where i was going n when i cut off my engine and tried to restart the car.. it was dead.. i got a jump the next day and everything was fine until i started using the radio and heat.. i thought it was a problem with my alternator but a friend checked my car out and said that wasnt the problem.. he told me it was a short from an o2 sensor and while he was checkin it out the check engine light came on..

any thoughts on what you think the problem is? how much its gonna cost to fix it? how long will it take?

winter time

 

Your friend is an idiot.

Its a dead battery, or a bad alternator. Go get a meter, and check the voltage at the battery with the car not running. It should be 12.4 volts. Crank the car up, and check the battery voltage again. It should be between 14 and 14.5 volts.

Do that, and come back and tell us what it is.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Patch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your friend is an idiot.

Its a dead battery, or a bad alternator. Go get a meter, and check the voltage at the battery with the car not running. It should be 12.4 volts. Crank the car up, and check the battery voltage again. It should be between 14 and 14.5 volts.

Do that, and come back and tell us what it is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ditto, or you can try starting your car and disconnecting your battery when the car is on, if your car turns off, your alternator is bad.

 

good test

 

bump for anymore thoughts and suggestions?

 

charge your battery up and if it goes dead again its the alternator.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by salbaje &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">charge your battery up and if it goes dead again its the alternator. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Or you can get a meter and test it how you are supposed to!

 

ya sure disconnect your alternator with the car running. That way if it wasn't bad before it probably will be now. Maybe you'll even get lucky and take the computer with it.

Plenty of places will check the alternator for free. Either that or get a multi-meter and check it yourself as previously stated in this thread. You could even check for drains while you are at it.