Car Experts: Is My Alternator Going Bad?

[Zook]

Google says so. What say you, DTF?

So I've noticed the last few days when starting my car it turned over slightly slower than normal. Then yesterday, the same, but everything was fine. I took my girlfriend to work, went home, went back out to wash my car, and finally home for the day. Car started just fine every time. Then when it was time to pick my girlfriend up from work, CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK. I didn't leave any lights on. The battery is practically brand new. So I got a jump and we drove for like an hour to charge the battery. Went out this morning and back to the CLICKING. Just enough juice to unlock the car. This is wonderful considering I'm broke. I'm going to take it to my mechanic today, but I don't know how much can be done, and then my car is still going to be sitting until I go to work at midnight.

Is my alternator shot or could it be something else? Is my car taking revenge for me neglecting it a bath for 2 months? I washed it and it fucking died. Thanks Obama.

[Prog Snob]

Sounds like it could either be the starter.  As far as I know the alternator doesn't take over until the car is running.  I could be wrong though.

[Perpetual Change]

Make, model, and mileage?

Also - I have no idea. Here's some advice, though. DO NOT take the car to Pep Boys or another similar auto shop. If you can, you want to call around multiple places, ask them what they think could be wrong, and get a quote for how much it'd cost and how long it'd take for them to look at your car and potentially repair. Then, you can compare rates and decide where to take the car. Don't just roll into the first place you see begging for help. That is how you wind up spending way too much $$$ to have your car repaired.

Unfortunately, Pep Boys and other such places have too many technicians in at any given time, who are mostly just good enough to perform oil changes and switch out light bulbs for senior citizens. Since they have the manpower, they'll almost never turn  your car away, and will let it sit in their shop 'til someone slightly more knowledgeable shows up. A smaller shop might be more expensive, but if you ask around enough you'll definitely wind up getting someone who can probably repair your car for real.

[jasc15]

Could be the alternator, if your new battery isn't getting the job done (since it's not being recharged after starting).  Is there any hesitation when jump starting?  If not, you can probably rule out the starter.

[Zook]

Make, model, and mileage?

Also - I have no idea. Here's some advice, though. DO NOT take the car to Pep Boys or another similar auto shop. If you can, you want to call around multiple places, ask them what they think could be wrong, and get a quote for how much it'd cost and how long it'd take for them to look at your car and potentially repair. Then, you can compare rates and decide where to take the car. Don't just roll into the first place you see begging for help. That is how you wind up spending way too much $$$ to have your car repaired.

Unfortunately, Pep Boys and other such places have too many technicians in at any given time, who are mostly just good enough to perform oil changes and switch out light bulbs for senior citizens. Since they have the manpower, they'll almost never turn  your car away, and will let it sit in their shop 'til someone slightly more knowledgeable shows up. A smaller shop might be more expensive, but if you ask around enough you'll definitely wind up getting someone who can probably repair your car for real.

2005 Hyundai Elantra, 85k. I trust my mechanic. His shop is also his house so he's not a franchise. I only take my car to Walmart for oil changes, but I think I'm going to stop doing that. I think they broke a piece of my engine, but I can't prove it. It's a plastic piece that goes over the air filter, so pretty sure that has nothing to do with what's happening now.

[Zook]

Could be the alternator, if your new battery isn't getting the job done (since it's not being recharged after starting).  Is there any hesitation when jump starting?  If not, you can probably rule out the starter.

The dude had to rev his engine for mine to start. It wasn't starting otherwise. Is that what you mean?

[ZirconBlue]

Your battery's either not getting or not holding sufficient charge.  So, either the alternator's not charging the battery, or the battery is bad.  Based on your symptoms, I'm leaning more toward the battery than the alternator at this point. 

[El Barto]

I'm leaning towards a short somewhere in the electrical system (my deepest sympathies). Sounds to me like somethings drawing a load even when your car is turned off. If you're the mechanically inclined type (and even if you're not, really), the simplest way to test the alternator is to start the car up and then remove the positive battery terminal. If your alternator isn't charging your car will die shortly thereafter. If the alternator is good, then it'll run indefinitely with no battery.

The alternative is to take it to Autozone, Pep Boys, NTW, or whatever chain parts store is in your neighborhood and have them test it. They'll plug in a tricorder which will spit out results in a minute or so. This will also tell you if the battery is defective.

[wkiml]

I'm leaning towards a short somewhere in the electrical system (my deepest sympathies). Sounds to me like somethings drawing a load even when your car is turned off. If you're the mechanically inclined type (and even if you're not, really), the simplest way to test the alternator is to start the car up and then remove the positive battery terminal. If your alternator isn't charging your car will die shortly thereafter. If the alternator is good, then it'll run indefinitely with no battery.

The alternative is to take it to Autozone, Pep Boys, NTW, or whatever chain parts store is in your neighborhood and have them test it. They'll plug in a tricorder which will spit out results in a minute or so. This will also tell you if the battery is defective.

 Advanced Auto Parts, NAPA, O'Riley's. 

 will do this free...Pep boys will charge you $50.00 for a diagnostic

[El Barto]

Wow. I've never had anybody want to charge for testing a battery/alternator. It takes all of 3 minutes. Actual diagnostics always cost money (and $50 is standard) but an alternator test hardly qualifies as diagnostic work.

I once called a local garage down here with a sterling reputation, told them my car was broken down 2 blocks from their shop and how much would it cost to replace the alternator. The guys says "ah shit, I don't know!" Then went on to insist that I pay for the electrical diagnostic before he'd even get me a quote for replacing the stupid thing, despite the fact that any layman could tell you it was the alternator. That's what you get when you deal with garages in rich parts of town.

[Tick]

Google says so. What say you, DTF?

So I've noticed the last few days when starting my car it turned over slightly slower than normal. Then yesterday, the same, but everything was fine. I took my girlfriend to work, went home, went back out to wash my car, and finally home for the day. Car started just fine every time. Then when it was time to pick my girlfriend up from work, CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK. I didn't leave any lights on. The battery is practically brand new. So I got a jump and we drove for like an hour to charge the battery. Went out this morning and back to the CLICKING. Just enough juice to unlock the car. This is wonderful considering I'm broke. I'm going to take it to my mechanic today, but I don't know how much can be done, and then my car is still going to be sitting until I go to work at midnight.

Is my alternator shot or could it be something else? Is my car taking revenge for me neglecting it a bath for 2 months? I washed it and it fucking died. Thanks Obama.

Well, I'm certainly no expert but from my years of owning many cars I feel pretty confident in saying its a faulty 7th Vector valve. Either that or its a bad set of 30 weight ball bearings. Its all ball bearings these days.






























(yeah, I should rarely be taken serious so...)

[Perpetual Change]

Wow. I've never had anybody want to charge for testing a battery/alternator. It takes all of 3 minutes. Actual diagnostics always cost money (and $50 is standard) but an alternator test hardly qualifies as diagnostic work.

I once called a local garage down here with a sterling reputation, told them my car was broken down 2 blocks from their shop and how much would it cost to replace the alternator. The guys says "ah shit, I don't know!" Then went on to insist that I pay for the electrical diagnostic before he'd even get me a quote for replacing the stupid thing, despite the fact that any layman could tell you it was the alternator. That's what you get when you deal with garages in rich parts of town.

I've had awful experiences with Pep Boys. In my experience, they're good at plugging tires for free, and selling roadside assistance warranties with oil changes which take them 4 hours to perform. For actual diagnosis and repairs, their basic model seems to be that they have their trainie technicians give a scattershot diagnosis of your vehicle, and then work their way up on the repair food chain starting with the cheaper repairs.

They also sell really loud, dusty brakes.

I wouldn't recommend anyone go to Pep Boys. Like wkiml said, those other part shops will scan your car for free.

[El Barto]

For actual diagnosis and repairs, their basic model seems to be that they have their trainie technicians give a scattershot diagnosis of your vehicle, and then work their way up on the repair food chain starting with the cheaper repairs.

This is not a defense of Pep Boys, but in all fairness that's generally how quite a bit of auto diagnostics work. What you pay for is somebody who has experience ad can reasonably narrow a problem down, but that's still a crapshoot. Hell, the guys at the BMW dealership are among the worst at troubleshooting old cars. Your best bet is to find a local shop that specializes in your make, and find out how long their tech has worked there. And even then, there are problems that my 30 year BMW tech had to make educated guesses with, and he was absolutely God-like as a diagnostician. With a shop like Pep Boys, the biggest issue is that they see every type of car under the sun, and very few of their grease monkeys stick around very long. None of them have any particular specialty.

And to be fair, they also sell high quality brake pads if you're willing to pay for them.

[JayOctavarium]

I'm leaning towards a short somewhere in the electrical system (my deepest sympathies).

Fucking worse thing ever. My dad had a 1980 280Z with that issue which he never was able to fix and my 97' F150 had the same issue. Turns out there was a short in the instrument cluster that prevented the alternator from even ever turning on. That was a pretty penny.






GOOD LUCK

[carl320]

I wouldn't recommend anyone go to Pep Boys.

This.  I had a clutch go bad once and took it to Pep Boys.  They had a rebate offer going on so it was going to be about $300.  Well I took it there and they kept it about a week.  When I finally go it back, they forgot an O ring so within 500 feet all the fluid had drained out and I was unable to shift.  I went around the block and back in.

Shortly after this, Pep Boys closed all of their Michiana locations.

[Perpetual Change]

With a shop like Pep Boys, the biggest issue is that they see every type of car under the sun, and very few of their grease monkeys stick around very long. None of them have any particular specialty.

Yet in my experience their "diagnostic" is basically letting your car sit in their lot half the day before reading the codes and beginning with the cheapest potential repair. Seems like very little education goes into it at all.

And to be fair, they also sell high quality brake pads if you're willing to pay for them.

Er, no, they really don't. But even if you do order their best pads, you can't trust the guys their not to give you their second best pads while a bunch of add-ons you don't want anyway.

[Zook]

Turns out the battery was bad. I guess I had it longer than I thought. The 2 year warranty expired 3 months ago so I had to drop $100 on a new one. This one has a 5 year warranty! 

Anyway, thanks for the help. The O'Reilly's chick was hot.

Goodnight.

[El Barto]

And to be fair, they also sell high quality brake pads if you're willing to pay for them.

Er, no, they really don't. But even if you do order their best pads, you can't trust the guys their not to give you their second best pads while a bunch of add-ons you don't want anyway.

Just something to consider, changing your own brakes is both cheap and highly satisfying. If you've never done it before, you'll spend about 90 minutes on the first wheel, and at most 30 on the second. You won't pay for stuff that you don't need (like rear brakes 2/3 of the time), and you'll know that it was done right. You can also spend the money you save on better quality pads which will stop you better and produce less noise and dust. Honestly, brake jobs are one of the few repair jobs that I always found fun. It's just straight mechanical work, and like I said, very rewarding.

[Perpetual Change]

I'd love to do more maintenance on my own vehicle, and I know it could save me money. Unfortunately, the apartment complex where I live doesn't let you jack up your car.

[El Barto]

You don't have a friend with a nice, flat driveway? I only work in my own parking lot if it's something that prevents me from driving the car to an amigos. It also helps if your friend is mechanically inclined; in case something goes awry.

[ZirconBlue]

Turns out the battery was bad. I guess I had it longer than I thought. The 2 year warranty expired 3 months ago so I had to drop $100 on a new one. This one has a 5 year warranty! 

Anyway, thanks for the help. The O'Reilly's chick was hot.

Goodnight.

Not to toot my own horn, but. . . .

Your battery's either not getting or not holding sufficient charge.  So, either the alternator's not charging the battery, or the battery is bad.  Based on your symptoms, I'm leaning more toward the battery than the alternator at this point. 

 

[Perpetual Change]

You don't have a friend with a nice, flat driveway?

More like, "I don't have a friend."

I only work in my own parking lot if it's something that prevents me from driving the car to an amigos. It also helps if your friend is mechanically inclined; in case something goes awry.

Well, that's the other thing. I might have tried that on the Lincoln (probably the worse car ever for someone not mechanically inclined), but for now I'll wait 'til my car's aftermarket to do anything myself on it. Thankfully Honda's are a bit better in that regard.

[Zook]

Turns out the battery was bad. I guess I had it longer than I thought. The 2 year warranty expired 3 months ago so I had to drop $100 on a new one. This one has a 5 year warranty! 

Anyway, thanks for the help. The O'Reilly's chick was hot.

Goodnight.

Not to toot my own horn, but. . . .

Your battery's either not getting or not holding sufficient charge.  So, either the alternator's not charging the battery, or the battery is bad.  Based on your symptoms, I'm leaning more toward the battery than the alternator at this point. 

 

 

[Perpetual Change]

Congrats, Zook! Battery's not such a bad thing to have come up 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Toot your own horn too much and you'll run the battery down.

[Zook]

Congrats, Zook! Battery's not such a bad thing to have come up 

Thanks. The $100 was bad, and I actually had to borrow that, but I'm thankful there was someone who could lend me the money.

[Perpetual Change]

As someone who just traded in repairs for payments, I'd say only $100 in maintenance is a pretty good month all things considered