ok my when i went out this morning whikle leaving work. my car had no power, lights nothing. I jiggled the positive side of my baterie cable, my lights went on, I put the key in the ignition and it went dead again. A guy at my job gave me a jump. It started right away as soon as our cars were hooked. I drove it home and on my way home the dash lights were dimming.
I left it run for a few min after I got home. I shut it off, then it was dead again. the battery was bought new this december. It is very cold here this morning. my car is a 2002 chevey cavileir.
does anyone know? If it is the alternater, are they easy to put in? could my husband do it? how much do you think this will run me??? Im in minnesota if price varies from state to state.
2007-04-04 00:16:23 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
It's not the alternator. If the alternator was bad your car would not keep running. The problem is with your battery. I would usually say the battery is probably dead but because you said that when you jiggled the cable power was temporarily restored I would find fault in the connection. Further proof of this is when your co-worker put jumper cables onto your terminals, power was restored (meaning that the power system from the cable ends on is fine).The first 2 obvious solutions is to 1. make sure that there is no corrosion on the terminals (a usually white crusty material) and 2.get a socket wrench and tighten down both terminals (making sure not to hit any other metal on the vehicle while tightening down the RED positive terminal).
If after doing the aforementioned no resolve is met... Have your charging system (primarily your battery) tested by a local auto parts store or garage.
Good Luck!
2007-04-04 00:25:29 · answer #1 · answered by Vincent C 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If the alternator is the original one that came with the car it is definitely suspect but I would first check the battery connections. One or both may be loose or corroded. A loose connection there would prevent your alternator from charging the battery properly. The first thing your hubby can do is loosen off and remove the battery connectors. Clean any powder or other stuff from the terminals and inside the cable connections (you can get a tool for this for a couple bucks) and replace the cables. Be careful because the powder is corrosive. Wash your hands thoroughly after doing this. Make sure the cables are bottomed out on the posts and tighten the cables securely. You can now apply a coat of petroleum jelly (vaseline) to the connection to help prevent future corrosion.
If this doesn't work get your alternator checked. Replacement is usually easy but sometimes the alt. is in an awkward place so will require patience.
2007-04-04 07:44:17 · answer #2 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have got some good answers. Cleaning and tightening the connections you can do at home in 10 minutes. Smear a good dose of Vaseline over the connections when finished.
But get the alternator and charging rate checked. Some places will do this for free, others charge a nominal few dollars. Cheap either way. Sometimes alternator parts wear out, these can be replaced in minutes without changing the alternator. Also check that the alternator drive belts are correctly adjusted.
The cold weather would not have helped either.
2007-04-04 07:54:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you wiggled your connection and got power, most likely your terminals are loose/corroded. Clean them with a wire brush and tighten them up with a 5/16 wrench. If that doesn't help, then your alternator is most likely the culprit. It is fairly easy to change. Remove Positive battery cable from battery, take the belt off by pulling up/pushing down on the tensioner with a wrench(15mm, I think)two bolts, a 10mm nut on the back, and unplug it. Install in reverse procedure.
2007-04-04 07:24:29 · answer #4 · answered by drunkmunkey25 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you can jiggle the connection, it's loose and you need to pull the connections, clean the battery and cable connections nice and shiny. tighten so you can't jiggle, it should solve it. Don't over tighten, you are working with lead...
Also, as an extra thing, take it to auto store and ask hem to do a "load test" on the battery...maybe alternator charging check too...it's usually free
2007-04-04 07:23:04 · answer #5 · answered by Michael B 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the price isn't based on were you live, but on the car itself. I have no idea on what one costs. I will tell you that replacing the alternator is so easy, that I - a 40 yr old fat chick can do it. I will tell you that it is very easy. I've replaced the one in my buick, the one in my van and the one in a buick i used to own. I did them all by myself with no help from anyone. Its not that difficult, you just have to know what the alternator is, where it is and remember where everything goes.
2007-04-04 07:22:09 · answer #6 · answered by tiggerkitty3 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes it's the alternatar and it's not very hard to change them about 30min job.The alternatar is about 40 to 100 dollars I think your will be on the low side. Do you have a carquest in the area is so go there.
2007-04-04 07:22:34 · answer #7 · answered by rcbremen 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
it could just be that your battery post arent clean and not making the correct contact.try cleaning them first.the alternator is not hard to put in and they usually run about 50-60 dollars at an auto parts store.hope this helps
2007-04-04 07:23:35 · answer #8 · answered by popularguy420 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋