What will happen if my alternator goes out while I'm driving?

Question

what will happen to my car? me? anything?

Answer 1

The alternator charges the battery while driving, and provides all of the electrical power to your car when running.

if the alternator goes out while driving, then the car is using power directly from the battery, and it is not charging.

After a few minutes, your car will die, and there will be no power in the vehicle. You may get a jump start, but it will then cease to run after a few minutes yet again.

If you do this over a period of time (ie a couple of days) it will ruin your battery.

other than that not much will happen, unless the alternator actually physically comes apart, then you may have parts go every where, breaking cables and fan belts.

If your alternator seizes up and no longer spins, it can easily cause the belt to it to break. On some cars this is no big deals as this belt only goes to the alternator, but on some you have one serpentine belt that urns everything. If it breaks, the your fan blade stops spinning, your water pump stops spinning, and you can easily drive and crack the engine block due to the temperature spike.

someone above said your alternator won't go while driving, he is wrong. They can and have. I have even had one catch on fire because of bad bearings. Mind you those are the worst case scenerio's.

Answer 2

If your alternator fails while the vehicle is in operation, typically your batter light should come on, this will let you know that something isnt right. But, for your question..

The alternator supplies power for the vehicle while the engine is running, and it also recharges the battery. If, during operation, the alternator fails, the vehicle will begin using up the battery's juice. Since they are all connected, you wont notice it when the alternator fails, unless your bettery light comes on.once your battery has run low, you will notice lights diming, electrical compnents not working properly, stuff like that.

The Alternator is a fairly simple part to replace, you can pick it up at about any auto parts store, and its rather simple to swap out. Just remove the belt, then remove the alternator, disconnect the wiring from the old one, connect it to the new one, mount it in place, put the belt back on. This will differ depending on the kind of vehicle, you may have to put the belt back on, then pull the alternator untill the belt is tight, then tighten the bolts down, it will be different for every vehicle, I suggest getting a Haynes Manual for your vehicle.

Another thing you can do, but I dont recomend you do it for long, is carry a hammer or something like it with you. if you see your batter light come on, pull over, pop your hood, and tap the alternator a little, then check to see if the light went off. This may work, or it may not. I had an explorer that I did this with (I used a horseshoe) for about a week or so. Hope this helps, Good Luck.

Answer 3

the alternator is the thing that provides power to everything elecric. When you start your car, power is taken from the battery, then while you drive, this power is put back into the battery while you run off of the alternator. If your alternator were to fail while driving, you'd be running the car off the battery alone which will fail evenually. As others have said, your electric will dim, then fail. Then the car will fail and not only will you need a new alternator, you'll need a new battery. Make sure your belts are in good order and at the proper tension because belts run this show.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What will happen if my alternator goes out while I'm driving?
what will happen to my car? me? anything?

Answer 5

If you are driving at night, it will appear as if your battery
is going dead. Your lights, radio, and blinkers start to go out.
(Did you check your alternator belt?? ) You will be unable to
start your car. (Worn Battery grounds to the battery cables
can do the same thing. The battery doesn't charge and the car won't start.)

Answer 6

your alternator is the part of the engine that produces the electricity for your car to run. It does it by getting power from the battery. If your alternator stops, your car will probably shut down or in some other instance, it will continue working until you shut it down. I believe that your best bet is to repair or get a new alternator.

Answer 7

my 2006 Mustang radio shut off, and the display said Low Battery, then it said Ac OFF to conserve battery. I drove straight to auto parts store, and tested alternator, which was bad, I replaced it there, then got jump start, and it charged the battery up while driving for the next 45 minutes.

Answer 8

The alternator charges the battery as your driving. So depending on when your driving night or day the battery will gradually lose power. More so at night as you will have the lights on.

Answer 9

You'll run off of the battery until it dies.I would hope you could get to a place that could fix it.But nothing bad should happen to the car unless the tow truck operator is careless.

Answer 10

then you'll be running off battery power only and your car will die without the constant charge from the alternator.