99 GA Electrical Problems- NEED HELP FAST!!!

laurenamber · #1 10-11-2005, 06:56 AM

I just drove from FL to VA, almost 1000 miles. As soon as I pulled into town, my battery died. I came to discover it was the alternator...we would charge or jump the battery, and it would not keep a charge. Well, I installed a new Alternator, and it ran great for about a week. Yesterday, my Service Vehicle Soon light came on. I had a car shop hook it up to the computer, and they said that there werent any codes coming back...they could not find a problem. So I ignored the light (hoping that it was just a malfunction in the sensor or something like that). Last night, the battery light came on, and the car totally shut off. When I removed the keys from the ignition, the lights in my dash were still on, my headlights were still on, and they would not shut off until I unhooked the battery. We tried to charge the battery again out of good faith (3 hours of charging at 6 amps, 12 volts). The same thing happened. What in the hell could this be? I was thinking there was a short, or even a surge somewhere, causing the battery to drain and killing the alternator. Anyone, help???

richtazz · #2 10-11-2005, 04:16 PM

you have either a bad ignition switch or bad body control module. Both are known problems with these cars and will cause the problems you describe.

laurenamber · #3 10-11-2005, 05:49 PM

I forgot to mention that we charged the battery fully after the second time it died, and when I started it up, it only ran for a few seconds before it died. A police officer had to help me push it back into the driveway. This sucks. I guess I am just going to have to tow the car (at least 100 bucks) and have the pontiac dealership deal with it. This is gonna cost me an arm and a leg. Am I better off just selling the damn thing? How much is this gonna cost me?

xeroinfinity · #4 10-12-2005, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurenamber

I forgot to mention that we charged the battery fully after the second time it died, and when I started it up, it only ran for a few seconds before it died. A police officer had to help me push it back into the driveway. This sucks. I guess I am just going to have to tow the car (at least 100 bucks) and have the pontiac dealership deal with it. This is gonna cost me an arm and a leg. Am I better off just selling the damn thing? How much is this gonna cost me?

Before you take it to the dealer try a new battery. it is possible that when the altenator went bad it drained the battery so much it wont hold a charge. alot cheaper than a trip to the shop. get a volt meter and test how much juice its holding.

laurenamber · #5 10-12-2005, 09:22 AM

Okay, I just went and bought a brand new battery. I put it in, and after 10 seconds of the car running, the battery light came on. Also, when it was running, I noticed the engine was idling roughly- the whole thing was bouncing a little; even the exhaust in the back was shaking a little. I turned it off after the battery light came on, and I unhooked the battery as well. It's kind of like "now what?". I suppose I should go return the alternater and get a brand new one. But if that doesnt work, then what?

maxwedge · #6 10-12-2005, 09:34 AM

Then what is get to someone who knows how to check this out and has the proper tools to do it, you have probably wasted as much money as a 1 time repair by a pro would have been, ps; check the ground to the engine and chassis from the battery first.

gmack221 · #7 10-12-2005, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxwedge

Then what is get to someone who knows how to check this out and has the proper tools to do it, you have probably wasted as much money as a 1 time repair by a pro would have been, ps; check the ground to the engine and chassis from the battery first.

You can also pull the alternator and take it to a parts store (autozone) and have it bench tested for free, like you should have had done with the orig one before buying a new one. They also test batterys for free too, they charge them overnight or all day, then put a load tester on them to see if the battery is good. Either way they want to sell you the part, but they want to sell you the bad part, not just parts.

Clean your ground like maxwedge said. Charge the battery and keep the ground cable off the battery, use a volt meter to make sure its charged to 12 volts, now put one end of the volt meter on the batter ground terminal, and the other end on the ground cable, see what the volt meter reads, if it reads more the 1 or 2 volts max, you have a draw somewhere in the car that keeps draining your battery. My guess is its one of the two items richtazz has told you. I told you how to verify something is pulling the juice from your battery, either get someone to tell you how to test the two items, or take it to someone who can.

laurenamber · #8 10-12-2005, 03:23 PM

Okay, I had the alternator checked- it was bad. I exchanged it for a new, good one. I will check the brand new battery too, and see if there is a draw, like you said. Hopefully my problem was just a dud alternater in the first place.

xeroinfinity · #9 10-12-2005, 08:25 PM

laurenamber, you buy the first alt. new or used? that will drain the battery for sure.

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