Sssssssss!

[shocky123]

So my battery light came on in my car a couple days ago.
Which sorta ticked me off because I bought a brand new battery in December. That being the case, I drove my car to the place where I bought the battery and had them run a diagnostic on the battery. It was at 97% of what it should be if it were brand new is what they told me.
97% maybe, right.. whatever it's better than 5% .. right?

(This was all yesterday..)

So I decided to take the battery light thingy as a minor issue until I got a chance to take the car in for a few recall repairs. (thank you ford :P)

Well, on the way to work today... sure enough, the car dies.
97% to like 0% in a couple miles.
Total suckage!

I have to take time out of my week (midterms week by the way)
to rebuild the alternator and then somehow figure out how to fandangle the serpentine belt back into place.. as well as the alternator..

Super Suckage! I'd love to say I have the money to buy a new one right now, but I dont get paid till the 31st... go figure... hooray.

[Daedalus]

D'oh! That sucks. I don't like credit cards and debt, but I think a working car is too essential to your life and livelihood to not get it repaired ASAP by any means possible. Charge it if you have a card.

As far as the %, they may have been reporting it as a % of nominal voltage. The electronics need a certain minimum voltage to work. Some cars may not work at 10V, which is still 79% of the battery's nominal 12.6V. Ignition, fuel pump, injectors...they add up.

[kgsilvas]

Sorry about the suckage.

Your alternator could be dead and just driving your car sucked that 95% out of the battery.

[mcs328]

Sorry about the suckage.

Your alternator could be dead and just driving your car sucked that 95% out of the battery.

Happened to me. I told NTB it might be the alternator and they tested it and said it was fine and just replaced the battery. One day later battery light came on and I knew they messed up. Replaced the alternator and it's been working ever since. I'll most likely never go back to NTB since I don't think they even bother to check the alternator and after than I've had a slow leak in one of my tires.

[shocky123]

D'oh! That sucks. I don't like credit cards and debt, but I think a working car is too essential to your life and livelihood to not get it repaired ASAP by any means possible. Charge it if you have a card.

As far as the %, they may have been reporting it as a % of nominal voltage. The electronics need a certain minimum voltage to work. Some cars may not work at 10V, which is still 79% of the battery's nominal 12.6V. Ignition, fuel pump, injectors...they add up.

I had them do a full diagnostic on the battery. By 97% they were referring to the Cold Cranking Amperage.. i.e. it was supposedly able to supply 97% of the current @ 12V that the battery was rated/purchased at.

It looks like I'm replacing an alternator sometime this week. Wish I had the tools to do it myself, I could save 50 bucks or so in labor.

[DarkFury]

Sorry about the suckage.

Your alternator could be dead and just driving your car sucked that 95% out of the battery.
:agree:

Been there seen that. A car can only operate on battery alone for so far then it's just gonna die. If the alternator goes out, you'll be dead in the water just a few miles down the road.

I'd say... take it to an "electric garage" and have them do a diagnostic on it. Most of them can find the problem and the "diagnostic fee" sometimes gets rolled into the charge for the repair.

Good luck mang... :D