I Need Hel Asap

Hey so the other ngiht my car decided to loose power and die out on me ... it was running fine all day and then all of a sudden while driving my radio cuts out and then the lights go dim.. as i drove it and kept the rpms up the lights got brighter and it ran but then when slowing down and coming to a stop the would go dim and it would die... sounds like the alternator so i replaced it and still the same porblem everything goes dead and it wont start.. i jumped it and it'll run but then die.. its not charging... any ideas what i can look at to find the problem im running outa ideas.. battery is fairly new

def sounds like the alternator to me. A cheap way to test your alternator is to start the car and disconnect the terminals from the battery. If the car remains running then it's your battery. Your car should run fine with a bad battery but the lights would go dim.

yea i'll try it idk what else could be the problem its prety weird i jstu spent 300 on belts n alternator n now its not fixed

Make sure the altenator fusible link isnt blown. Its in the underhood fuse box in the corner closest to the passenger fender. Its bolted in but should have a clear top. Also check the wiring that goes to it where its bolted in. Wire should go from the battery, to that fusible link, to the altenator. If its broken anywhere along the line the alt cant charge the batt.

The one where all the fuses are for liek the battery and stuff or somewhere else?

That would be the one. It has fuses and relays in it. Next to the passenger headlight.

yea they all seemed to be ok the ones for the alt n battery anyway....

Have your battery tested also. It is something with your electrical system either not putting out enough power or drawing too much.

Alright so the battery is holding a charge and the alternator was tested n bad.. so its replaced and the problem is still happening? the clear fuse ohms out like it should so tahts not the problem where could it be drawing too much from?

did you buy a new alternator, or a used one?

New they tested it for me on the spot to make sure it was good... we recharged the battery and now the batt by itslef can hold a charge but once in the car it jsut gets drained in a matter of 5 min or less it goes from 12v ta below 9 n stalls out the car.. the fuse for the ALT. is good (the clear one they call a fuseible link) that ohms out good and the wires are all carrying volatage... I'm kinda running outa ideas

Are the battery cables hot after you put it in the car. If it is drawing enough current to drain the batter that fast the battery and cables would probably get hot. If not I would still bet on your battery not being able to hold 12v under load.

BUt i bought a new batt. and the same thing still happened.... the alternator was tested at the place and tested good i took the old one there it tested bad.... the relay is fine all the fuses are good... while raising the rpms the batt. voltage went up then once off the rpms it goes back down n dies....when i turned the car off the volt meter read 11.2 running and when off its spiked up to 11.6 where could i be drawing that much power from while running.. radio a/c lights all that are off durring this time....any ideas... my next step prolly 2morrow is to run the car and jsut pull fuses to see if a certain system is pulling a load that cant be handled....I'm running out ideas:banghead:

If thats all the voltage youre running then the alt is NOT charging. Check ALL wires going to and from the alt and the battery.

check the ground from the engine to the chassis i had the same problem so i took the ground wire from my amp and fixed the problem

It was only at 11.2 n 11.6 cuz the batt was dying cuz it the car was running.... the alt is pose ta be good and the wires going to the back of the alt are all reading the same as the batt.... so their good its gota be somethign else

then the battery is bad. I had a piss poor battery in my car and I still showed 13 volts. As soon as I shut the car off I had to jump it again but the alt was enough to keep it running. If when the car is running you are below 12 volts, and when you rev the lights get brighter, then the alt IS NOT CHARGING. Been there, done that.

But if you look in the other posts i replaced the batt and the problem still occured.... the batt would jsut get drained n the volts would jsut drop.... how do you explain that?

The Alt Isnt Charging

Theres two simple diagnosis tests you can do. First one is take a wrench or something metal and put it next to the back side of the alt when the car is running. If the alt is charging correctly there will be a magnetic fuel and it will pull the metal object to the backside of the alt.

Second is start the car and pull the positive cable off the battery. If the alt is charging the car will remain running. Bascailly once the car is started it doesnt rely on the battery unless there is a heavy discharge, like say from an amp. The car primarily runs on the alr once its running so if the car shuts off when you pull the positive cable it means the alt is dead.

I'll see what happens tomorrow.. but if neither of these prove anything then what?

Diagnose first then go from there. I almost guarantee the alt isnt charging for one reason or another.

Alright I'll let you knwo 2morrow once I'm outa work and get a chance to look at it again Thanks

Im losing my mind with this guys... i chagred the batt over night so it helf a charge a 12.22v. i ohmed the charge back wire read .03 so tahts not bad... back porbed the wires going to the regulator... while running my buddy said it read around 20v... engine grounds were all good and read 12.22...car started ran until it drained the batt..... once i turned the car off the batt recharged itself back up at 11-12v... later i found that the fuse i repalced for my headlights n door locks in the fusebox in the car was blown again after jsut replacing it... the fuse in there was 10amp somone told me it should be a 30.. is this true.. i put a 30 in and it was fine it dint blow.. but there was still something pulling power from my batt while runnning any ideas what so ever?

Did you try what I told you to try?

The head light fuse is 15a, Get that 30a out asap. It wont be able to blow if there is a short and will melt wires.

If you have pop ups the fuse for the mtor itself is only 10a.

Yea i tryed the pulling the pos terminal off n seeing what happens.. the car died right away... someone else told me that wouldnt work it would jsut die.. if it was a generator it woulda stayed running but not an alt...not doubting you jsut saying what i was told.. and as far as a magnetic feild i couldnt feel anything really....mine are pop ups and the 10 amp blew for a second time.. idk when it happened it if iwas right away or what but when i looked at fuses again it was blow at the very top.... and the 30 amp was fine but i did pull it out i dont knwo wtf is going on it a pain in the ass wires are checking out fine as far as i can tell but the headlight thing is a lil weird n raises a red flag.. but i pulled the relays in the engine fuse box for the motor n headlights n shit n nothing happened as far as lessening the drain...?

If it died the alt ISNT charging. No magnetic field means the same thing. Ive done this on several cars. The alt is what keeps the car running once its started. Whoever told you differently doesnt know what they are talking about. The "drain" is because the battery isnt enough to keep the car running. The alt has to constantly recharge it, without the alt, the battery is killed and the car dies. Its not that difficult to comprehend.

If I had a way to get vid to a host I would go do this for you right now. Id start my car and pull the postive off and I guarantee it would stay running.

If you are positive the alt is good then you need to check all connections, all wires, all fuses etc. I have seen the alt fusible link blow down inside before making it difficult to see. Unbolt the alt fusible link and inspect it. You really have no choice but to keep pecking till you find the issues

Its funny you say that cuz the guy is/was a master tech haha but anyway .. i tested the fuseible link.. its the 40 amp fuse in teh box right.. its white n clear... its got power to both sides....the alt was tested b4 i bought it and the readings came back good what are the odds of it going bad afta putting it in.....just to make sure theres only the connector and the charge back wire connected to the alt right?....would the fact that the fuse for my head lights blew 2 times have anything to do with it?

There could be a dead short somewhere. The dead short could have fried the voltage regulator somehow.

That so called "master tech" needs to go back to school. Ive done this several times on several cars. I made sure it was the alt dying on the Stealth a few years back by doing this, and I verified it wasnt the alt another time by doing this. It died when the alt was bad, it stayed running when the alt wasnt at fault.

I cant seem to see or remember it being listed but what year is the car? Have you ever had the caps in the ECU replaced? If they are leaking they could be causing a short on the board itself and it could be giving you fits.

For wires on the alt I know on the SOHC there is 3 wires coming out of the same harness and all 3 must be hooked up for the alt to charge right. I can take a quick look at my parts car tomorrow to verify one way or the other on the wiring hookups.

Its a 93 and thats a no to having the caps done... bby 3 wires you mean the red and blue for the connector the the chargeback wire? cuz thats all i could see and have hooked up? could the headlights blowing that fuse be cuasing this.... cuz then i gota trace all the wiring for the headlights...?

If there is a dad short then YES it could be causing an extreme drain. A few weeks ago my speed sensor shorted on me. When I was trying to diagnose the issue I ended up running out of 15a fuses (because the turn fuse is what was blowing) so I had to use a 30a :eek:, yes I know not smart but it did help me find the issue. Basically when I turned the key to on my volt gauge was showing 11 volts, then I saw the smoke rolling from the speed sensor. After I unhooked the speed sensor all was well. Try unplugging the headlight harnesses if you truely believe thats the issue.

AS bad as this sounds I'm not completely prepared for this type of problem.. anywhere i can get diagrams for all this i have some but they aren't all of what i need

Alright so i went up today to go look at my car.. the batt held a charge over night, it read about 12.22 then settle around 11.60v.. but it still wouldnt start the car that seemed a lil strange to me... key off and all the battery read good volts but couldnt crank?.... that was also with the fuse inside the car for the headlights n locks was out.... i jumped the car it ran for a bit then died liek usual cuz it drained the batt... i unpluged the left and right headlights but that would only tell me if it was pulling after the connectors right? when i put the fuse back in the volts droped from 11.2 down ta around 9v which tells me its draining from the headlights somewhere... but the fuse didnt burn out? someone tell me what i should be looking at .. and do you know where the connector is straight out the harness for the headlights?

If I remember right the connector off the main harness is down on the drivers side right before the core support. Best bet is to just start following the wires. Along the tracing of the wires you may run into the culprit.

Hey by the way what did you mean but getting the ECU Recapped? you mean like reflashing or what? kinda lsot me on that one

Hey by the way what did you mean but getting the ECU Recapped? you mean like reflashing or what? kinda lsot me on that one

What he means by "recapping" is replacing the capacitors in your ECU. The first gens were prone to bursting and then leaking. This can cause all sorts of strange issues. It is a cheap thing to have done. Hell, you can buy the CAPs and do it yourself if you're handy with a soldering iron but there are plenty of people willing to do it for you.

I had a feeling it had something to do with capacitors.. how much am i looking at?

so there is a wire that comes fof the pos. battery terminal that goes to the 120Amp fuseible link..... when i ake that off the volts on the batt stop dropping... but when i put it on it starts droping again.. then when i plu in the fuse inside the car for the locks n lights it goes from 11.6 down to 9 n drops from there..... what am i looking at?

Well unhooking that wire means a connection is lost for the alt so the alt cant charge at all.

There is definitely a dead short somewhere.