After driving it on my daily commute, i parked it on the driveway. about a few hours later, I wanted to go to the store. Started it, let it warm up due to freezing temps.Got into the car, put it in gear and it died. Jumped it, ;let it charge for 15 minutes. Drove for aboubt a mile and it died again. Now sitting in the garage. asked yahoo for answers and one guy said charging relay, starter relay, or relays in general. but most said either alternator or battery. help me
2007-01-23 00:27:16 · 5 answers · asked by smashpunk68 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
It does sound like your alternator or battery. If you can, have them tested. Almost any parts store (like O'Reily's) will test them for you, no charge. Good luck.
2007-01-23 00:38:22 · answer #1 · answered by bookfreak2day 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm the way to check the alternator is take a multimeter put it on each terminal of the battery and make sure it is putting out at least 13.5 volts when running. Does it have enough juice to crank? Battery dead? How old is the battery? Charge the battery then check it with a load tester. Before it died was it night and did the lights get dim? If you have no assesories on a good hot battery will fire the engine most of the day if you do not have to crank it, but the two test I mention above should get you closer to the real problem. An experienced mechanic at the Ford dealer could probably tell you what the problem is after you tell him how many miles are on the car, and the age of the battery. If the battery connections are not tight and clean that would do it too. Just because they look clean doesn't mean they are clean. You usually cannot diagnose a problem over the phone or in a chat room, you have to see the car, and be able to put your test equipment on it to fix it, speculating and replacing parts is the hard way. Remember that Fords are not designed for reliability and that FORD stands for FOUND ON ROAD DEAD. It is just doing what it is supposed to do. The best fix would be to trade it for a Honda or Toyota.
2007-01-23 08:47:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Guarantee its your alternator. The car needs so many amps/ volts to run. I guarantee that when you hit the brake to put into gear your brake lights took the voltage the car needed to run. Chances are being its winter your battery will go bad due to lack of charge, unless its less that two years old. If your alternator is not charging your car will take the power it needs to run from your Battery. When all the power (volts/Amps) from your battery has been depleted your car will not run. People used to stop at the gas station with this problem when I was younger. I would put the battery on charge for an hour, then I would start the car, get them into the car and tell them not to turn anything on that was not needed. no radio, AC, anything that would draw the battery down. So I guarantee when you hit the brake pedal to put into gear, your brake lights took took away the power you need to keep the car running.
2007-01-23 08:41:59 · answer #3 · answered by Robert D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your alternator is shot...you should be able to start the car if the battery is charged. Then pull the negative terminal off of the battery while it is running and the alternator should be providing enough power to run the vehicle and it's accesories. If the car dies, your alternator needs replaced.
2007-01-23 08:36:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definately have your charging system checked, if the alternator is charging & the battery passes a load test you need to have it checked for a voltage draw. I have seen problems with the GEM module that can cause this problem.
2007-01-23 08:37:06 · answer #5 · answered by George 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋