Electrical/Alternator problems PLEASE HELP!

[monkeyb12]

Hello everyone. I have a problem with my 96 talon tsi awd. about a month ago the car started to die while i was driving on the highway. it just lost all electrical power, but when i gave it gas it would turn back on and continue driving. it eventually died and i had a mech fix some wires. the new problem now is the car still doesn't seem to have any power. the other nite driving home it died. i took it to a garage and they tried replacing the alternator, but the new alternator was not receiving a charge. they then tested my old alternator and it was fine. this seems to be a big electrical mess and im not getting too much help around here from the local mechanics. i also have two amps and a capacitor hooked up to the car, but the mechanics told me that they would not cause this problem. also, before the car died these two other times... if i left it in the driveway for 4-5 days and didnt disconnect the battery, then the car would not turn over and the battery would die. im guessing i have draw somewhere, but i have no idea of where to even begin to look. any help would be appreciated. thanks!

[SLoe]

You should post this in the problem diagnosis forum. You will get more help that way.

[monkeyb12]

ooops ur right thanks!

[spyderturbo007]

Take it to autozone and have them do a load test on the charging system, that will pinpoint your problem.....and it's free

[tsipsi20]

Check the fuse to the alternator... the same thing happened with my brother's car. If 2gs are anything like my 1g, it's a bigger looking fuse, and it's most likely under the hood. It should be called ALT or something similar.

[monkeyb12]

thanks for your help took it to autozone and they told me that i needed a more powerful battery. everything works now and car runs a lot smoother. thanks again

[RaigE]

I just had the same problem, It started yesterday morning. I noticed the dashboard lights were getting a little dim, then I turned on my wipers and they moved pretty slow. Thought to myself, great wiper motor. Shut the car off at work. Started fine at the end of the day but on the way home, the radio went dead and the dash lights were non-existent,and the wipers were barely moving, my turn signals and hazzard lights had a very very long delay between blinks. Then all of a sudden the car seemed like it wanted to stall out, it sputtered as I gave it gas like it just didn't want to run.

The battery I have is less than 2 years old, could it be that it finnaly decided that it wasn't powerful enough or could it be my alternator

92 plymouth laser 1.8 litre auto.

[RaigE]

Update.. Overnight the battery seemed to get a full charge, it started fine this morning, but after a couple of minutes running the radio went dead again and lights started to dim.. I turned the car off and tried to restart it but to no evail.. Let it sit for an hour or so and the same thing happened it started and then lost all it's juice.. Could the alternator be not holding it's juice is there a wiring problem not to sure.. I don't want to drive it anywhere in case of it stalling out on me..