Problem Two: Alternator Or Battery?

[atm2000]

problem number two!

my battery died on my on friday, i'm not sure if it's because of my back trunk problem or not....i'm guessing it was since the battery lost its charged.

i tried boosting the car with a similar battery from a volvo with out success.

it got me thinking if it was another problem or not. maybe the alternator?

the car has 110,000 KMs on it and has been running quite nice recently. is this the time-frame that the alternator goes out? how can i tell if it is the alternator?

thanks,

[97alpineM3]

A lot of times if the battery is absolutely drained it wont charge back up... I'd get a new battery due to the fact that it is the cheaper route and if it works you've saved some money instead of going with the alternator...

Good Luck,

Les

[Avlany]

If you tried to boost it with another working battery with no luck, Id say its alternator mate. Its sux but thats the way it is n

[aheath]

You have 2 options...


-Jump-start the car and disconnect the battery, if the car continues to run and EVERYTHING is functional then it's the alternator.

-If you're able to make it a autozone/les swab they will be more then happy to test your battery to see if A.) the battery is charging up B.) if the battery is getting enough charge (if the alternator is going out)

I would go with the 1st option by jumping your car and waiting a few minutes to see if the car will run alone on the alternator by disconnecting battery.

Good luck!

[Gator]

Whether or not the alternator is working properly has absolutely no affect on whether or not the car will start with a GOOD battery or whether or not the car can be jump started. It's not unusual for a battery to be internally shorted or so dead that it can't be jump started. Buy a new battery and a cheap voltmeter. They're only about $10. Measure the voltage between the + and - terminal of the good battery with the car running at 1500 to 2000 rpms and if the voltage is between 13 - 14.5 volts, the alternator is good. I do not recommend that you disconnect the battery and try to run off the alternator when you get the car started. That would work with older cars but with all the new high tech electronic circuits that can have unpredictable and very expensive results if you smoke the electronics.

[atm2000]

Originally posted by Gator@May 16 2005, 06:41 PM
Whether or not the alternator is working properly has absolutely no affect on whether or not the car will start with a GOOD battery or whether or not the car can be jump started. It's not unusual for a battery to be internally shorted or so dead that it can't be jump started. Buy a new battery and a cheap voltmeter. They're only about $10. Measure the voltage between the + and - terminal of the good battery with the car running at 1500 to 2000 rpms and if the voltage is between 13 - 14.5 volts, the alternator is good. I do not recommend that you disconnect the battery and try to run off the alternator when you get the car started. That would work with older cars but with all the new high tech electronic circuits that can have unpredictable and very expensive results if you smoke the electronics.

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so, i find out that the battery i bought from bmw has a two year warranty. i'm bringing my car into the shop and get them to swap it out and put a new one. stay tune.

if it's the alternator, shouldn't i get some warning signal, like the battery light in the dash light up before the alternator died on me?