What should I ask the mechanic when I suspect the problem isn't just the alternator?

Question

I'm taking my car (99 Saturn) in tomorrow to fix something electrical - my dad says the problem might be more than the alternator. What should I tell the mechanic to look for? I'd like to drive away from the mechanic without having my car die again...read below

On April 20th, my car died. I noticed problems like the gauges flickering, the radio dying and the rate of accelaration slowly decreasing whenever I hit the pedal a good 10 minutes before it actually died. I had it towed, and the mechanics put in a rebuilt alternator.

On Friday the 27th, my car wouldn't even start - my dad had to hook up his truck battery to mine to get my car to start. When I turned the key, nothing happened.

Today (the 1st), I was driving up a steep hill with a million speed bumps, and all of a sudden my radio died, and the rest of the car followed suit. It died much faster the second time around.

Thanks everyone!!!

Answer 1

If you take it to a good mechanic he will figure it out. Just tell him all your troubles and he will help you.

Answer 2

Lilywhit... It looks like you quite possibly have a charging system issue. The description of your problem (and thank you for the diction and the punctuation) is completely consistent with charging system failure.
But there are always variables...
The alternator (now called once-again a generator) could be doing its job, but the power might be interrupted along the way. The most common cause for such a disturbance would be a JUMP START around the time the problem first happened. Need for a jump start could be something innocent, such as lights being left on. The jump start can cause electrical havoc, including the electrical separation of whatever protects the system from such insult, always a fuse of some sort. Could be a fuse LINK. Could be a slow-blow fuse around the battery somewhere. If a jump start isn't the known spark (ha) to the situation, disregard the last bit.

I'm a Dodge expert, but charging systems have a common thread... the alter-generator needs to create magnetism to make power. First, the unit needs to be identified. Belt driven, it lives on the busy side of the engine. Should the gener-alternator be accessible, find a device of ferrous consistency. A screwdriver blade works well. We need something magnetically attractable.
OK, this is where the injury disclaimer comes in. What I'm going to describe will put the diagnostician in the area of spinning pulleys and runnning belts. A misstep could cause the ferrous device to be pulled from the diagnostical and driven into soft tissue, should he/she be so unlucky. So use this advice only if supreme confidence is at hand for the procedure.
With the engine running, the charging system will be attempting to acheive its target voltage. Generator field control will be pouring power into the generator field, which creates a powerful magnetic field. The absolute easiest place to measure such a field is at the generator pulley--nearest the belt that causes the DANGER warning. Find an empty space outside the pulley, where nothing will come into contact with the ferrous device/screwdriver and touch it to the pulley. Magnetism from the field control transfers to the pulley. Should it be present, it will noticably draw the device to the pulley. If it does, the generator is being controlled properly by the charge controller. If there is still no output (defined as a rise in voltage between when the engine was started and when measured), it could be a break in the power transferrence to the battery. Measure (use a digital meter--the voltage could reach 100 or so and damage a lesser device) the output at the large stud on the back of the generator with the engine running. If it is the same as system (battery) voltage, the poor guy done bit it. New generator time. If the voltage is higher (will be much higher), look for a blown fuse or fuse link on the way to the battery. Tired? Me too. Good luck. Don't get hurt.
One last thing... If your unit has a lotta miles on it, the generator brushes could be wearing out. Lack of contact of the field control to the generator rotor will cause there to be no magnetism at the pulley. Other things can cause this, including failure of the charge controller and wiring breaks. A simple test, but not difinitive, is to whack the generator with a hammer. Sounds stupid, but the fact is that your brushes in the generator could be just reaching the end of their lives. They depend upon reaching the rotor to do their jobs (spring-loaded carbon chunks on wires). As they reach the end of their travel, charging issues arrive. Giving the generator a swift kick can dislodge small amounts of dust that prevent the brushes from reaching their maximum travel and restore (momentary) operation. Should the generator not be accessible for a direct shot, consider using some sort of drift. Just be wary of the belts. Always the belts..AND DON'T GET HURT.

Answer 3

I presume that the mechanics at the Saturn dealership are better at detective work involving automobile engine systems that me, your father, and you. Make certain you tell them or otherwise make them aware of the car's recent history. (Which, BTW, is very strange and I'd presume something other than alternator failure is going on.) Did you buy the car used? Did you check to see if it had ever been in a flood?

Answer 4

As a tech, I didn't like people second guessing my work. I do, however, love to hear the whole story. Your car might be worked on by a different tech each time, or the service advisor may not be giving the tech all the info. Ask to talk to the tech. Ask him to show you and explain what's wrong. That will force him to find the problem.

Answer 5

Sounds like the battery has a bad cell inside, Have him check the voltage coming out of alternator, If OK replace battery if older than 3 years and clean the battery terminals. good luck

Answer 6

it could be a combination of a few things. You could have a lot of corosion on your battery which is causing your alternator to work harder and burn out. Or you have a problem within your battery where it won't hold a charge. I guess a third thing could be an exposed wire somewhere and when metal hits metal it's effecting your battery, alternator, or both.

Answer 7

Have him check the positive battery connection at the starter and the ground connection to the engine block.

Answer 8

Charge the battery. If it more than five years old get a new one.

Answer 9

sounds like a voltage regulator problem, but on a 99 saturn its probably built in the alternator, so it coudl be a coimputer problem, i donno anyway jsut tell the mechanic what its doign wrong tell him what you told us that way he doesnt just throw an alternator in there, and tell him the alternator was recently replaced to

Answer 10

battery cables im guessing same thing was happening 2 my jeep