Quote:
Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed
A weak battery should not make it quit running if you have a good alternator.
|
That's why I'm puzzled. The car starts easily when jumped from another vehicle or with a freshly charged battery, but dies when running. Smells like an alternator, but haven't found a smoking gun to convince me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed
You have not said whether or not the BATTERY warning light is coming on.
|
The BATTERY warning light is not coming on - at least not when we're looking at it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed
This might be a long shot but here's what I discovered on my Escort. The brushes in the alternator wore out. For some reason if it quits charging due to bad brushes the BATT warning light does NOT come on. Typically, it would charge when I started it up but quit charging after a few miles. The only way I knew this was that I have an after-market battery gage. If you have a volt meter I'd lengthen the leads so it would reach the inside of the car then go for a drive and watch the meter.
|
This scenario fits the symptoms. I'll pursue this. But the alternator is only four months old; even with a reman from Autozone, the brushes should be new.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed
If battery passed load test I'd rule that out but you might go to AutoZone for a second load test just to confirm it's good.
|
Easy enough to do.
Thanks for sharing your experience.