View Full Version : Car Problem - Electric-ish - Exercise #327
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 01:41 PM
Ok so I was driving my car the other night and the electricity started cutting in and out, turning my radio off and on in the process and my car seemed to hiccup as well when this happened, but continued to run. The digital temperature thing turned off as well. The next day I looked at the batteries and they were corroded but I cleaned the terminals and the car fired up. NowI got out last night and it won't start, no power. It gets sporadic electricity but doesn't have enough juice to start. It is a 1993 Ford Taurus SHO, good condition, has been serviced regularly. Could it be fuses? Should I look towards the battery again? Alternator? Thanks in advance.
~Justin
imported_The Vibesman
10-31-2005, 01:42 PM
Probably your alternator. If you know how to remove/reintstall it you can have it tested at most parts stores.
Shajen
10-31-2005, 01:45 PM
Hopefully it's just your battery, but the electrical stuff going out sounds like the alternator.
Take the battery out and get it tested at Autozone for free.
If it is the alternator, it will die fairly soon because it won't keep the battery's charge.
You can get an alternator fairly cheap, and they aren't hard to install yourself.
swede123
10-31-2005, 01:46 PM
The Vibesman is right on. What you describe sounds very much like a shot alternator. If you are somewhat handy you can replace the alternator fairly easily, usually only having to remove the drive belt. An alternator will cost you around a hundred bucks for a better one, or a bit less than that for a cheaper one.
Swede
ripdog
10-31-2005, 01:48 PM
1993 Ford Taurus. My advice would be to push it off of a cliff. Seriously though, you have not provided enough information for anybody to give you solid advice. It could be anything. Get it into a reputable shop and have it diagnosed. You could take a quick look around the alternator to see if there are any damaged wires. You may need a battery but I doubt that it is the cause of your problems in this case.
aren't there supposed to be hot chick pictures in here?
were the windshield wipers on when you first started having problems?
theweatherman
10-31-2005, 02:00 PM
I hadsimilarproblems with my 96 altima. One thanksgiving it just died on the road andwouldn't start. Took a few tries but I finally jumped it and got to sears for a new battery, worked for a bout two days then thesame problem came. Everyone told meit was the alternator (except the test guys at autozone) Turns out all the connections to the alternatorwere corroded, even though the barrtery trerminals were fine.
Bottom line, two hours pulling out wires and sanding them saved me a $300+ alternator.
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 02:23 PM
thanks folks.
~Justin
PokerGoblin
10-31-2005, 02:38 PM
What you describe sounds like the alternator is failing intermittenly. On some cars they are easy to change, on a '93 SHO I am not sure, I actually think it may be a tad on the difficult side being a DOHC V6. A lot of the vehicle accessories are buried and difficult to access.
Best thing to do is jump it and take it to a local shop to have the charging system checked. Do it soon though. An alternator that is malfunctioning will cause the battery to have to work harder, and if you neglect it too long the battery will need to be replaced too.
PG
You said the battery was corroded, so if you haven't already done so, I would disconnect the battery and use a file to take off all of the corrosion. This may solve your problem. This happened to me before and it worked. If that doesn't work, then autozone is your key. They can test both the battery and alternator
Shajen
10-31-2005, 03:34 PM
use coke or Dr Pepper to remove the corrosion.
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 03:46 PM
I cleaned the terminals with a terminal cleaner last night, and it started right up... then 4 hours later it had little to no juice and today it gets juice but it flickers in and out.
~Justin
Ok this is what I would do, get a friend to jump your car. If it starts and will stay running on its own, get your friend to follow you to autozone to get it tested (just in case you have to jump it again). If nothing is wrong at autozone, then maybe you have bigger problems. Most likely battery or alternator, though. Have you tried jumping it?
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Seriously though, you have not provided enough information for anybody to give you solid advice. It could be anything.
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Yes he has. There's like a 99% chance he needs to replace his alternator. It has nothing to do with the battery since the car would remain running just fine even with no charge on the battery if the alternator was good. The other 1% of the time it will be some connection related to the alternator.
ripdog
10-31-2005, 04:43 PM
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Seriously though, you have not provided enough information for anybody to give you solid advice. It could be anything.
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Yes he has. There's like a 99% chance he needs to replace his alternator. It has nothing to do with the battery since the car would remain running just fine even with no charge on the battery if the alternator was good. The other 1% of the time it will be some connection related to the alternator.
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Yeah, my 15 years of experience as a mechanic and ASE electrical systems certification and many hours of follow up in the classroom don't mean [censored] here. [censored] AutoZone or any of those big chain parts stores and their diagnosis. Get the car in to someone who knows their [censored]. Electrical parts that have been plugged into a vehicles system are not returnable and I wouldn't trust a diagnosis done by the local parts store. The way the OP read, I believe that the author has almost no knowledge in this area. Jumping in to this repair armed with ignorance and advice from OOT could prove to be very frustrating and more expensive than it needs to be. My advice is to look for something simple and get it in to a professional if you don't find it.
Yeah, get it to a professional so they can rip you off... I think just about everybody has dealt with the sleezy auto repair guys. It's hard to find a good, honest one if you don't have a recomendation. So why not try to figure out if its something simple that any idiot could accomplish. Changing out a battery / alternator can be done with basic knowledge that I learned in 7th grade vocational classes. I've changed an alternator before with ease, and i've never had an auto class in my life. It's not like its rocket science....
swede123
10-31-2005, 06:39 PM
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It's not like its rocket science....
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And even if it were we have Patrick for those kinds of problems.
Swede
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 06:47 PM
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It's not like its rocket science....
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And even if it were we have Patrick for those kinds of problems.
Swede
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nh
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Yeah, my 15 years of experience as a mechanic and ASE electrical systems certification and many hours of follow up in the classroom don't mean [censored] here. [censored] AutoZone or any of those big chain parts stores and their diagnosis. Get the car in to someone who knows their [censored]. Electrical parts that have been plugged into a vehicles system are not returnable and I wouldn't trust a diagnosis done by the local parts store. The way the OP read, I believe that the author has almost no knowledge in this area. Jumping in to this repair armed with ignorance and advice from OOT could prove to be very frustrating and more expensive than it needs to be. My advice is to look for something simple and get it in to a professional if you don't find it.
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I wasn't recommending that he fix it himself, I thought he was asking the question here to get an idea of what kind of repair he was going to be facing and/or learn enough about it to avoid getting screwed by a less than reputable mechanic who wants to charge $2,000 to rewire the entire car. Although if OP is confident enough to even consider taking a job like this on himself, I would say go for it, it's not difficult.
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 09:03 PM
Update: Talked to a friend who had the same exact thing happen to his Ford a while ago and it was the alernator. While I am generally good with fixing stuff I have decided to let a professional do it, as well as other stuff I have been putting off.
As far as the pushing it off a cliff comment you clearly have never had a SHO or driven one, once you have one people don't let go very easily, fun car to drive and practical as well.
~Justin
tonypaladino
10-31-2005, 09:05 PM
My parents' old '93 Taurus had endless alternator problems.
Jurollo
10-31-2005, 09:11 PM
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My parents' old '93 Taurus had endless alternator problems.
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Duly noted.
~Justin
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