2008 chevy equinox

i have a 2008 equinox....A little back story the battery kept going dead got a new one last week 3 days later it went dead again i am waiting on an alternator to be shipped to me. Last monday we had to jump started it again then none the gauges worked on the cluster panel. The only light that is on is the check engine light. Please help me. I am disabled and trying to find out what it is and hopefully i can get it fixed hopefully cheap.


thanks Nova

You need to get the car scanned to see what the codes are. How do you know the alternator is bad?

You need to get the car scanned to see what the codes are. How do you know the alternator is bad?

Had it scanned and it came up alternator was bad

That's odd. There is no DTC defined as "Alternator Failed" nut there are several non-scan ACTUAL diagnostic tests which can indicate a failing alternator, usually involving a voltmeter and resistive load testing. It used to include a hydrometer before batteries were manufactured in a non-serviceable outer case.


Hopefully the guess will pay off.

Yeh, no definitive code points to the alternator.

i will try the alternator first and let you know what happeneds

ok after having a friend put it on a machine it came up that it was a plug from the orignal radio. i had a after market radio in it. but i don't have the orginal anymore so i am looking for it. its wierd that a radio could cause the problem