Problems with starting my '94 Cavalier

[eleonardo]

Alright, whenever my car sits for more than 24 hours, I can't even start my car, there is no sound when I turn the ignition. I have to use my little portable quick jump kit to get it started. So I took to a "Shucks Auto part store" and I told them the story and how I thought it might be my Alternator. They checked it out, the hooked up some sort of device to the battery and then told me to turn on the car, my highbeams, radio, and heater... he monitored it for a while, and waited until the car heated up to just over 100 degrees. Then he checked my gages and said that he saw no problem. I don't leave my dome lights on, in fact I have them totally off, they don't even come on when I open my car doors. I leave my panel on low when I'm driving at night. The only thing that is ever on is just the clock and he said that only takes a minimal amount of batter to run...which I figured. He also said that since my car is older, that it might be having trouble keeping a charge. He said it could be a flaw in the battery, but he doubted it. He also said I might want to disconnect my battery when the car is not in use. (That doesn't seem like a solution to me, don't really feel like doing that every day). Also that I should only worry if the batter light comes on when I'm driving, which it hasn't. And finally he said, that if I do start using the car everyday that it should start working on a regular basis, and if I don't use it warm up the car that day to over the 100 degree mark..... Well school starts in about 2 weeks, and I really don't feel like getting my car stuck there..... Any help would be appreciated...

Also, if I should go get it checked out somewhere, where do you think would be the best place? Somewhere like less schwab? I didn't think they take care of these kinds of problems. Btw, I only have $200 right now for fixing this problem, If you know what the problem is and think that I might need more cash, let me know please.

Thanks in advance.

[DVSNCYNIKL]

Well, your problem can be one of two. It's either the alternator or the battery. The thing he said about disconnecting the battery, is actually a little trick to see if the alternator is bad. If you disconnect the battery and the car shuts off, your alternator is bad. If you had the car running for a while and haven't left anything on that shouldn't be, you need a new battery. Batteries aren't that expensive, so that won't cost you 200 dollars. If the alternator is bad, lucky for you, you have an american car, you can purchase a rebuilt on for under 200 bucks. Good Luck.

[DDFresh]

DVSNCYNIKL: Couldn't of said it better my self.

To add:

If you do end up needing a new alternator don't head off and buy a new one because sometimes they can cost a lot. If you have a wreck yard or something and go and rip one out of a car that has crashed or something and that should only cost you like $50. And they work just as good.

but besides that DVSNCYNIL said everything that I would of.

Good luck

DD

[DannMann99]

im having the same problem and i usually run the car everyday to keep the battery from dieing on me. today i was running my car for a bit and had my stereo going and the battery light would come on sporatically and then go off. I read what you said about disconnecting the battery though to see if its an alternator problem. i just want to ask a question about that. How would i go about checking out that problem. Can i just run my car, and while running pop the hood and unplug the battery? and see if the car dies on me? or do i go about that some other way.

[big dude1]

yup u just pop the hood and unplug the battery...

[ttweakk27]

Could be a bad cell in the Battery or a bad diodein the alt, or a loose connection somewhere. Most parts stores will check the battery and alt for free.