Car Car Car

[bobquasit]

The car's broken again. It seems to be the alternator again; the battery and engine lights are on continuously. I'm not sure how I'll get to work on Monday. This is basically insane.

I guess Teri will try to drive it into the shop on Monday. If it breaks down, we'll have to call for a tow. The one thing I'm hoping is that it doesn't cost much (if anything) to fix, and that it will finally be fixed permanently.

Oh, wait, I just noticed that I hadn't mentioned it: this is the third time since the 18th that we've had this problem. The alternator died and was replaced on the 18th; three or four days later, it died again because it turned out to be defective (and so I lost a day of work); and now, well, you know.

I'm starting to lose faith in our mechanic.

Comments

[oldwolf.livejournal.com]

Here's how to check if the alternator's bad. Start the car, remove the Positive + cable from the Positive + pole on the battery. If the car dies after a few minutes, the alternator is bad. Specifically, the voltage regulator is bad. And on some cars, it isn't in the alternator, but in your electronics package on the firewall. It could also be that you have a blown fuse or bad wiring in the fusebox/electronic ignition package. But be careful because the car frame is a grounding source.

The trinity of this is starter, alternator, battery. Usually if one goes, the other two aren't far behind.

[audacian.livejournal.com]

I was on the phone with my dad when I read this so I asked him.. he said it's likely you're getting rebuilt alternators and that they are probably all going bad. It's not uncommon at all to have that problem, but the mechanics should be able to test whether the alternators are still good before they install them.

There could be a wiring problem, but it's not as common as having a series of bad alternators. They like to die on you, I think. :P

[klyfix.livejournal.com]

Dumb question: Do you go to a local guy who works on cars or to a chain? I'm really half-inclined to think that unless a "shade tree mechanic" type is a really good friend or something one is better off with a corporate garage even if it is more expensive. You don't save money with somebody improvising solutions or (if Audacian is right) sticking in rebuilt parts and not telling you that.

Mind you, I've not had a car in 25 years and the closest thing I ever had to what you're having involve a belt giving out and not having a proper replacement in Hill City, SD, thus requiring an improvisation with a different belt until I could get to Rapid City where it could get replaced.