Reader Question I don't want to sound like a repeat, but I have a few conditions different from the other cases I found on your site. For the past few weeks, my car has been taking a little longer to start than usual, it takes a while for the engine to turn over.
Often, I would have to try turning the key a couple of times before it would turn over. It died last week, my neighbor jumped it, and all was well until the other day when I was stranded at Food Lion. At first my friend thought it was the starter, so he tried tapping it while I turned the key, but no luck.
Here's the wierd part- the car went from cranking, to a click or two, to nothing- and when it got down to nothing (no sound at all), my car alarm would start going off every single time I tried to turn the key. Needless to say, this is a little frustrating. We then tried jumping the car, and it worked, but only long enough to get it to Advance (then it died exactly where I parked it). Advance checked it, said my battery was at about 11, and told me they couldn't check the alternator (their machine was broken), but that it was most definitely the battery.
So I replaced it, and drove 15 minutes to another Advance store, and when they checked it, my alternator was putting off 12.36, and they told me this was borderline, but definitely not the source of my problem- everything should be okay now that the battery was changed. WRONG... I noticed it was taking just a few seconds longer to crank again, and sure enough, last night I was stranded at a friends on the other side of town!
Same symptoms: at first car was cranking (but weak), then it just clicked a few times, then it just stopped. And on comes the alarm!! Oh, and my dash lights and radio are all coming on just fine... PLEASE HELP- I am a student with limited expenses and I just wasted 50 dollars on a new battery when that's probably not the problem.... but I need my car to get to work!!!
Thank you,
Catherine
Hello CatherineYou really need to spend a little bit more money and have a real mechanic perform an electrical test. The Advanced auto people are not really what I would call.....mechanics.
While reading your email I would suspect you had a bad battery OR dirty or loose battery cables which I see all the time in my shop.
You most definitely have a lack of battery power problem, either the battery is not holding the electricity the alternator is providing OR the alternator is NOT providing enough electricity to the battery OR the battery cables are loose or dirty and not providing a good connection for the electricity to enter the battery OR you have a "drain" something could be draining the power from the battery.
To read the full article, visit Myhonestmechanic.com