problems with shaking and power

[melvdawg79]

i have a 1995 pontiac firebird ( no trans am ) but anyways i have aa few quetions about it.

1. MY car has been having electrical problems, one day my battery went deaad so i took it to a auto store had battery checked and found out that the battery was finished, no longer held a charge, so i got a new battery and tested beforei brought it home and it worked just fine. So i puit it in, and began drivingaround and noticed the battery meter slowling going down and soon enough it just died, triedto restart but it wudnt so i recharged it and tried it again did same thing and i know its sumthingt5o do with power becasue before the battery goes dead or i loose power my steroe dies. So im thinking its the alternator, i dont think the alternator is working becasue it is not suppling more power to the battery once the car is started, its like the car just uses up he battery power and is done. PLEASE help me!!

2. When i accelerate my car kinda shakes but only when accelerating fast or from speed of about 10 mph - 40 or 50 mph ? what cud the problem be? and it doesnt seem to get as much power as it shud be.

and when i burn out only the left whell spins why?? posi-trac???

[Mines69Olds]

Yep, I'd say your alternator is pretty warn out. Put the new one on and just recharge the new battery and put it back in. The shaking may have been because the battery had little charge. The spark plugs probably weren't getting enough juice to them and not working as they should. Only one wheel spins because you do not have positive traction. Positive traction means that both of the wheels turn and the same time all of the time.

[melvdawg79]

Originally Posted by Mines69Olds

Yep, I'd say your alternator is pretty warn out. Put the new one on and just recharge the new battery and put it back in. The shaking may have been because the battery had little charge. The spark plugs probably weren't getting enough juice to them and not working as they should. Only one wheel spins because you do not have positive traction. Positive traction means that both of the wheels turn and the same time all of the time.

So if it's not from posi traction then why does the right side passenger wheel spin a ton and the left side driver wheeel barely spin at all ??

[blindeyed]

Originally Posted by melvdawg79

So if it's not from posi traction then why does the right side passenger wheel spin a ton and the left side driver wheeel barely spin at all ??

You have an open differential. Which in turn means, when you give it gas, only your passenger rear tire will turn. Your driver side rear tire will sit there no matter what. It's what some have come to call "The one wheel wonder." It's normal, GM didn't equip the V6's with Posi because it was cheaper to just give them an open differential. Thus, a cheaper price for the consumer. The V6's were designed for economy, so they saw no need to give them Posi.

[Multiphat]

#1 Once you start your car remove the negative terminal, be careful around moving parts, from the battery while its running. It should continue running off the alternator. If it dies the alternator is dead.
#2 Sounds like a miss maybe. Tuned it up lately?
#3 Put rear of car on jack stands. Turn one wheel if the other wheel spins in the opposite direction its positive traction.

[MidwayAvenue]

yeah i had my alternator die in my 95 firebird few years ago. it did the same thing yours is..so basically what everyone else...lol

[blindeyed]

Originally Posted by Multiphat

#3 Put rear of car on jack stands. Turn one wheel if the other wheel spins in the opposite direction its positive traction.

Not true at all. Many think that, but it's absolutely wrong. I don't have posi, and when I turn one of my tires, the other goes the opposite direction as well. The only true way to tell is to lift it up, turn it on, and get on the throttle only enough to where the rear tires will move. Helps to have someone in the back to watch the tires turn. Or you can just go do a burnout and see if you left two tire marks.