So lately my car hasn't been holding a charge on the battery. I was dealing with it for a while until I could get a battery. Well today on my way to work my stereo cut out, lights went dim, hazards wouldn't work wipers where slow and it wouldn't let me go over 1k RPM's or at least that's what it sounded like since the gauges stopped working until I idled then the engine was unsteady.



The battery is only 1.5 years old and the alternator is 8 months old. Any ideas on whats going on? Also the car has 140k miles on it.

 

I'd begin by checking to see if the alternator is actually charging the battery. I accidentally left a wiring connector disconnected and the same symptoms happened to me.

 

I had the alternator replaced almost a year ago, do you think somthing may have come loose?

 

Not necessarily, but I'm saying that it sounds exactly like an alternator that isn't working.

 

well, good thing I've got the warranty I'll get a replacement today and hope thats the issue.

 

Not so fast though, at least check that the alternator is the source of the problem. It can easily be done with a multimeter and some google instructions.

 

Well i pulled it and took it up to autozone amd had them test it three times and It passed all three...now what?

 

So...I'm an Idiot...when removing the alternator I noticed the belt was chewed up pretty bad so while waiting for the test to finish I picked up a new one. Put it all back together cleaned all connections including the terminals and presto...all fixed.



The belt wasnt grabbing the pully wheel enough to spin it fast enough therfore not charging the battery and that's why it didn't completely shut down as it still had some grip but not a lot. Thanks for the help

 

Hey, there you go. Glad you fixed it man!