Car Problem - Electric-ish - Exercise #327 - Page 2

Shajen · #11 10-31-2005, 03:34 PM

use coke or Dr Pepper to remove the corrosion.

Jurollo · #12 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

#13 10-31-2005, 04:01 PM

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?

d10 · #14 10-31-2005, 04:06 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.

ripdog · #15 10-31-2005, 04:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Seriously though, you have not provided enough information for anybody to give you solid advice. It could be anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

#16 10-31-2005, 06:02 PM

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 · #17 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 · #18 10-31-2005, 06:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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

d10 · #19 10-31-2005, 08:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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 · #20 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