battery or alternator problem?

[agdetail]

had to jump start my car last night after the movies since the car would not turn over.

thought the alarm went off and drained it but went to the hardware store this morning and it happened again.

after going home a hooked a car charger to it till it read 100% charged. after first crank and turning it off after 1 min. the battery was at 70% and 60% after i tried a second time. engine would not turn over.

does anyone know if its a alternator problem or battery?

 

[HyperViper]

Sounds like a battery to me.

 

[LiquoRT/10]

99 % of the time its the battery

 

[KNG SNKE]

probably battery but if it ends up being the alternator shoot me a pm.

 

[agdetail]

guess ill head down to the interstate store.

just opened up the battery compartment and it looks like a original battery from 05 when the car was bought. screws were hard to get off :/

kng snke - ill shoot you a pm if worse comes to worse.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

When you get the new battery, don't forget to use a battery tender.

 

[slitherv10]

Well it might be your battery at this point but, it might have been the alternator that has caused the battery to fail. Have the alternator checked as well as soon as you put the new battery put in. Otherwise, your new battery will get drained also in due time.

just my .02 cents...canadian dollars so...whats that?...1.97 cents US

 

[agdetail]

how do you check a alternator?

when i turn the key to on the battery reads 12.1 or 12.2 v on the gauge and when the car is started it read 14 or a little over.

 

[ACR VYPR]

After the car is started, disconnect to battery. If the car dies It's the alternater.

 

[ACR VYPR]

*the* the battery is used to start the car. After the car is running the battery is out of the picture and the car is running on the alternator only.

 

[ACR VYPR]

Also, clean all your connections first with baking soda and water. Then check the battery/alternator....

 

[speedracervr4]

You can take the car to a local parts store and they can test both the battery and alternator. You could also just take the battery there to determine if it'll hold a charge. Good luck

 

[KNG SNKE]

Do not start your car then disconnect the battery. That is an old method to see if the alternator is bad and a good way to ruin electronics in a car. Bring it to an autozone and they have a machine to test it.

 

[jwolf]

After the car is started, disconnect to battery. If the car dies It's the alternater.

[SIZE=+3]Wrong![/SIZE]
​

The moment he disconnects either lead from your battery, it's entirely possible he caused thousands of dollars in damage. Here's why...

Your battery does more than just yield electricity. It also shorts AC, spikes and transients to ground. Removing the battery from the circuit allows those spikes and transients to travel around, endangering every semiconductor circuit in your car. The ECU, the speed sensitive steering, the memory seat adjustments, the cruise control, and even the car's stereo.

Even if your computers and stereo remain intact, in a great many cases removing the battery burns out the diodes in the alternator, necessitating a new alternator. If disconnecting the battery interferes with the voltage regulator's control voltage input, it's even possible for the alternator to put out hundreds of volts, frying everything.

Even the initial premise was wrong. If you disconnect the battery and the car conks out, you don't know if it conked out due to insufficient alternator current, or whether the resulting transients caused your ECU (the car's computer, which controls fuel mixture, timing, and much more) to spit out bad data, shutting down the car.

Nobody should EVER run your engine without a battery.



The problem, of course, is that disconnecting the battery doesn't always damage something. It does it only sometimes.

 

[agdetail]

So any other way of testing a alt and starter?

Put in a new battery and after a few starts it happened again. Could not crank. Battery terminal is corrosion free. I'm starting to think there might be a short somewhere on the viper

 

[speedracervr4]

Remove the alternator and take it to an auto parts store,they can bench test it ....Did you test the battery or just replace because everyone told you to.

 

[speedracervr4]

Check the fuses as well..

 

[jwolf]

One other comment on modern alternators, they are not designed to charge batteries only bring them back from a part charge and maintain use load.
A modern alternator may be 200+ amp for a short period of time, but will over heat and have a melt down if ask to run at 200 amps for 30 minutes.
Most owner manuals warn again charging a dead batter with the cars alternator.

 

[bluesrt]

bench tests are not any good, test the alternater on the car with it running- period..by someone with exsperiance.you may have a solinoid shorting out,when it wont start, see if you have good headlights(strong) hot loud horn,just a simple litttle quick test cause you know the battery is new. sometimes old batteries will test headlights and horn,but short out as soon as you tork the starter(bigger load)make shure the battery is fully charged before testing the alternater.charging the battery with the alternater will burn the alt up,and mostly at idle,will discharge the battery(alt doest usually kick in till a higher rmp)

 

[agdetail]

well i charged the battery overnight and left it for a day unhooked and went back. it only had 80% juice left.

when cranking after a start if i start it. only has 70% juice.

installed a new interstate battery and after it started i still had 100%.

all fuses are ok. even pulled the headlight fuses out since it has to be on when the key is turned on in canada.

horn works and headlights are working good. no dimming.

 

[agdetail]

also every time the car wont crank. i borrow jumper cables or a booster. starts just fine when hooked up to the front.

 

[bluesrt]

another silly test,if the car doesnt after about 15 minutes of driveing start to loose power and dash lights dim,running like crap,your alternater is more than likely working,especially if your batt guage looks correct. your car wont run on a discharged battery ,and alternater not working,it will run on a discharged battery if the alternater is working,but very ******* the alternater cause it keeps charging,overheating the alternater internals,check for a shorted starter,when they get hot from engine heat,internal parts separate

 

[bluesrt]

jumping it gives it a harder boost,sounds like a starter-you have a fresh battery,so rule the battery out if you think its still actually hot,get a volt meter and when it wont start,check the volts of the battery with engine off.

 

[agdetail]

where is the starter location on a 05?

 

[bluesrt]

i dont no, i doubt it hard to find though,under the car right there i would guess, dissconnect the neg batt terminal first before removeing.

 

[bluesrt]

you can also try when it wont start,tap on the starter while someone cranks the key, 50/50 chance of it starting if its acually the starter

 

[speedracervr4]

It's next to the block right in front of the bell housing...look under the car's oil pan and follow it towards the back of the car. I suggest buying some manuals for the car. If the car is started you can also test the output of the alternator with a multimeter. Although it will not tell you if a high output diode is bad...

 

[agdetail]

car decided it like to start today. 3 times accually.

1st start batt was at 70% and started no problem
once started the voltage was 14.8, alt was 110-120%

let the car go up to normal temp i turned it off.

waited a few min. battery was 100% and voltage is 13 (car is off)

then i started the car once again within 5min of turning the car off. started fine.


this was the exact opposite yesturday. battery was 100% after it would not crank, it read 70% and had to try a few more times with a battery charger to get it to start.
i did change my oil lines and oil yestuday but i doubt that helped .

 

[agdetail]

also noted when the car did not start.

no clicks when trying to start.
it would sound like its trying to turn over but cant a few times and everything flickers until i let go of the start button. the voltage will show under 12v when its trying to crank.

 

[bluesrt]

you gotta have a bad cable or starter im thinkin