[Kim]

Ya'll mighta seen my post in general discussion (94egt goes down again) and I wanted to post an update here to see if it helps narrow down what happened since I've been too lazy to do much other than be glad it's starting with a quickness and running good. This past Sunday it didn't start and then after a jump was starting only after holding the key down awhile.

The day before this happened it was starting completely fine. We thought it could be the alternator that had been recently replaced or the refurbished battery I had in there. We put the Die Hard battery I used to have back in the car and now it's starting perfect. It's been four days since we put it in there...would I have an indication by now that the alternator was bad? When my first alternator went bad it started to take a longer and longer time for the car to turnover, but that's not happening this time.

How long would it take for the battery to loose it's charge without the alternator? It seems it took a long time last time cuz the long turnover period was on and off for about three months before it became consistant and finally didn't start at all. So I guess the alternator was probably really weak for awhile, but that Die Hard seems to be very strong. I just wonder when I can reliably say it was probably the bad battery.

 

[zzyzzx]

If the alternator is completely shot, then you'll know it after about 1/2 hour of driving. Yes, I know this from personal experience.

 

[Kim]

cool thanks

 

[MazdaRacer]

sounds to me that the refirb battery has not been refirb'd very well and is not holding a charge.

To test the alt, get yourself a multimeter, set to 12v DC and touch each post of the battery with the corresponding multimeter probes. Should read between 13.8 and 14.2ish if it's lower than 13.8, it's not putting out a good charge.

When i was a full-time 12v tech, a long time ago, i found a small battery tester at Sears i think. All it does is check alt voltage, there's no LCD display, just LEDs to indicate voltage. Was under $5.

 

[Kim]

The refurbished battery isn't in my car anymore. My old Die Hard I had before the refurb'd one ended up in there is back in my car now and it's doin awesome so I think it must be all good then...I hope .

I got the refurb'd battery from a friend that owns a battery shop. He has a battery tester, but when my alternator went dead earlier this summer he put the refurb'd battery in there cuz we were tryin to see if it was the old battery I had causin the prob. He checked it with the fresh battery, but it was still low so that's when I figured it was the alternator that time.

I kept the refurbished battery in there for the time being cuz my Die Hard was 5yrs old anyway. Guess my car likes that 5yr old Die Hard a lot better than the refurb'd.

I was tryin to figure out if I could be pretty sure at this point that it wasn't the alternator this second time around. Ya think I'm safe then?

 

[zzyzzx]

A 5 year old Die Hard battery probably isn't very good unless it's rated for 7 years, or something. If you live in an area where it gets cold, be looking for the next sale on a good new battery. They are not that expensive! It is one of the few things that you can buy at a place like Pep Boys or Autozone or Walmart that will actually last a long time in your car.

 

[Kim]

It was the refurb'd battery that didn't work. The Die Hard although old didn't have a problem when I took it out. I'm not worried bout buyin a new battery. If the Die Hard stops workin I will buy a new one. But since it works I don't see the need to do that. In fact it seems to actually be a very strong battery. My only concern was how to tell if my alternator was working properly. Didn't know if between from last Sunday to now was a long enough time to know for sure. I think it must be ok cuz my car is starting with the quickness it had before this mess this summer, and it runs like speedy gonzales. My car hasn't been this peppy since a couple years ago at least.