The Last Horseman wrote:It can still be the battery. I've had many times where places say the battery is good, but I get another battery and then my truck starts. Some types of votlmeters don't tell when the battery is right on the line of having enough and running out.
Hobie-wan wrote:You took the battery to an auto parts store and carted it inside so they could test it? Just hooking to to a voltmeter isn't good enough. I had 1 cell die in a battery in a previous car. The dome light and radio came on just fine with their low draws but it would just click when I tried to start. There's a machine that runs a few tests. Unless your car has a horribly cramped engine compartment changing the alternator probably isn't too bad. Though the last vehicle I had to do it on was an 83 Nissan truck that had plenty of room to work.
Well it sounds like I should get a second hand look then. And if I describe some more symptoms you guys might have an idea too...
The car never died on me on the road or anything. I could have the AC, radio, and things on with no trouble. But whenever I was idling at a stop, especially in the morning or after just driving to some nearby places (like if I went through a drivethru up the street), my car would start revving up on its own acting pretty weird. Hard to put in words I guess, but whenever I described this to some of my friends and others they said it doesn't sound like a battery thing.
Yesterday when we finally got my car to start on the way to Autozone it was definitely shakier than ever before, rumbling, and I didn't bother turning on the radio or anything. But yeah, it felt like I barely made it to the store. I almost didn't make it back home since it took a few tries there to start it up after they ran some tests.
So yeah, are those bad alternator symptoms? I definitely don't know much on alternators. In some of the random research I've done off and on sometimes though, for my vehicle (96' Acura 3.2 TL), it sounds like the revving thing could be an Idle Air Control valve issue, maybe I need to replace that or get it cleaned out. But maybe these symptoms can come from an alternator too? Or a battery? Whenever the weird revving would happen my lights wouldn't flicker or anything like that either. This has literally been going on for like a year or more though. It was just very subtle, until several months ago and it just got worse as time went by obviously.
All in all this damn car has been a ticking timebomb. About two years ago one night I was driving home and ran over a cylinder block or something equally strong in the middle of the damn road, that bent my frame so bad that it can't be repaired (and my car doesn't feel as smooth/centered since then), that instantly destroyed my radiator on impact, and ever since then this thing has just been falling apart. When I have no money! Lovely. The new radiator I got didn't last long either, it developed a huge crack on the top. I have to fill it up with water whenever I drive anywhere for the day and highway driving isn't happening. Fun stuff.
: Why oh why does Veteran's day always come on a week I have stuff coming in the mail!?
