battery not charging

[ACCSlvCivic]

well, the car is dead and i don't know why. back in october i got into a wreck.. a week after that my speedometer quit working (it sits at zero only to spike to 100 and then back down to zero.. most only does that in humid weather). my lights also started dimming and brightening. not just my headlight... all the lights inmy car. the dome light, my gauges... everything. well, this tuesday it got nice and cold (3" of snow here in Dallas, wth?). i tried to start my car and all i got was a nice poping noise. well.. after that my door poppers quit working so i couldn't get in my car (i have shaved handles). well.. i figured it was my battery that was messed up. or maybe the alternator.. so i replaced both. My car made it all of one day but as soon as i turned on my headlights the battery started draining and eventauly (while i was driving) my car started to die. My RPMs started spiking and boucing and my car started to jerk. it was almost like i was misfiring. Any ideas? if you need more symptoms let me know (i'm in class right now so i gotta cut it sort.) Thanks

[90CRXZCSi]

That would've been one of my guesses was the alternator. I can see if you replaced the alternator and not the battery then that might be the problem but you said you replaced both so i dont know.

[white97ex]

you may have gotten a bad battery or alternator. my lights were doing hte same thing ....the problem was that the alternator wasn't putting any charge on the battery. you may also have a short somewhere. you say you have shaved handles...i take it that you have aftermarket stereo? some of the aftermarket wires may be shorted out.

[fritz_269]

Originally posted by white97ex
you may have gotten a bad battery or alternator.

This happens WAY more often than it should. Probably 20% of the batteries I've purchased in my life were no good - and something like 50% of the (remanufactured) alternators.

It's a volume business - it really doesn't pay for them to test stuff thouroughly.

[sbmopar340]

I have an Idea... Get a Domestic car. J/K

[fritz_269]

Originally posted by sbmopar340
I have an Idea... Get a Domestic car. J/K

I do. I have a 1964 Chevy El Camino with a 350 SBC that I've owned for 15 years now, and the track record for remanufactured alternators is incredibly terrible - actually far worse than most late-model imports.

[rybred]

same thing sorta happened to me when i got some head work done after not driving it for a while and it was the distributor...i don't know if it is on yours though! I had to buy and exchange 3 distributors to get one that actually worked...cause they only have remanufactured ones for the lude! I found that out by taking the distributor out of my friends lude that was running fine and putting it on mine...that was after the second time i took the thing back to get refund...luckily i have a good mechanic that was 100% sure it was the distributor though! If anyone tell you they have a new distributor for your lude....they're bulls*#ting ya, don't buy it!

[pvang31019]

did you tighten the belt? get a new belt? retest the alternaotr? rpms jumping would be an ignition problem. as for the speedo, it's the vss that's in the tranny...