Car Broke Down Last Night

[imadaisy210]

Yesterday, all my gauges inside the car stopped working. They all read 0, and it wouldn't tell me what gear I was in. Me, my boyfriend and my dad figured it was a blown fuse and one of them would look at it in the morning. Well I was on my way home from my boyfriends at 2 in the morning, car started fine but after driving for about a minute or so I noticed that my headlights were very dim, I got out and looked at them and as I got out my radio stopped working and completely turned off. The lights stayed dim and maybe a mile or so down the road I lost power and the car turned off. I let it sit for a minute or so and tried to turn it back on. It went "click click click" it sounded almost exactly like a beebee gun. All the lights were dim in the car. We tried jumping it but it didn't work. Could this just be a completely dead battery? or is it more? I'm gonna feel like an a**hole if it's only a really terrible battery and it's at the shop. We ended up having it towed since it was in the middle of the road and it's at a shop now so I guess I really don't need any suggesstions as to what is wrong but I would like some anyway so I have an idea what they could say. The only mods I have on my car are a remote car starter and some extra lights on the bottom front of the car. Thank you for any of your suggesstions!

 

[peter78]

It went "click click click" it sounded almost exactly like a beebee gun. All the lights were dim in the car. We tried jumping it but it didn't work.

Welcome to the forum. It might be nice to know what year your 4Runner is and what size engine you have. By the describtion, it sounds like the starter is not getting enough power. The typical clicking sound means, the power is low and starter is trying to start, but not enough power to turn it over.

But other things are going on, gauages reading 0 and you cannot jump start it. Before you replace the battery, try jumping it again. Maeks sure the connections are right, positive to positive and negative to negative. Have the good car run for awhile, 2-3 minutes or so and then rev up the good car and have the other person try and start your 4Runner.

If it does not even attempt to start, I would suggest a new battery and then see if it more than that. If the main fuse would go out, you wound not even hear the clicking. My guess is, you have a dead battery and even after you start it up, that is if you can, you might need a new battery.

 

[imadaisy210]

Thank you

Thank you Peter for your advice. Its a v-6, '99 4runner with almost 55,000 miles on it.
But on a good note, the car place called about 20 minutes after making my first post and said it was the alternator. Hopefully that's the only problem. Unfortunately, it's going to cost me $420 that I don't have but at least my car will hopefully work but I will most likely get a new battery on top of the alternator anyway so I don't have to worry about the battery again. Cars are such a pain in the ass, such a neccesary evil.
Thank you again Peter.

 

[4boer]

One of my beefs about these vehicks is a lack of a volt gauge. Might have tipped you off well b4 getting stuck.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

I would replace the battery as well. A weak or dying batery can cause the alternator to overwork and fail prematurely. If you have extra lights get a higher rated battery too. FWIW the Everstart batteries at WalMart come with a 3 year 100% warranty and are not too expensive.

 

[rook]

Well I was on my way home from my boyfriends at 2 in the morning,

Welcome,
It sounds like we have the answer covered. That is a nice low mileage 4Runner.

 

[peter78]

Sure it can be the alternator, but when they stop charging the red battery light comes on. Let us know what it is when you get it fixed.

 

[imadaisy210]

Thank you so much for you suggestions

It ended up being the alternator and only the alternator. Comments about the battery. I did think about the fact that my bat is probably shot since my car was running off the bat and only the bat and I'm not sure when that started. But I know the bat got run into the ground and I know thats not good for batteries. I'm taking the suggestion about getting the 3 year 100% warrantied bat from walmart and will also look into getting a higher rated battery since I have the extra lights. My dad is also going to hook up a volt meter to see how many volts are being pulled from the bat when its running and not running to find out if something is using more juice than it should be. We were thinking that maybe the remote start could be pulling more juice, but we don't know much about remote starts so I guess we'll find out when my dad uses the volt meter.
But I also have a question, 4boer commmented on the fact that 4runners don't have volt gauges, which is obviously true. I don't know much about cars, just bits and pieces from my boyfriend trying to teach me, but can I get a volt gauge for my car? Would it even be worth it? Or would just using my dads volt meter from time to time to check her out, be sufficient? Also, how much would something like that set me back?

Also, peter78, you commented that when the alt stops charging that a red battery lights comes on. No red bat light came on...could I not have one for some reason? or could it have been because my instrument cluster stopped working earlier that day and still wasn't working when I left my bf's house. Everything read zero and it wouldn't tell me what gear I was in...so had that not stopped working maybe it would have shown a red bat light? Now I'm wondering why the "idiot lights" weren't working...

Thank you guys so much for your suggestions. I really do appreciate it!
-- Jennifer

 

[4boer]

Daisy/Jennifer (if I may be so bold!):

The voltage gauge, if thats even what it is called, is really nice to have. My 93 buick has several gauges that the T4R doesn't, and thats one of them. I'm not sure if it's worth adding one. If you can get one installed easy and cheap do it. Probably only going to come into play once a decade, but if your out at 2:00am, especially in a Northern winter it's nice to have. A quick glance tells you if things are charging/charged as they should be. 14 when the car is running; 12 when it isnt. You can use your Dads to trouble shoot, but that will be only after you have a problem.

The instrument stuff not working was a warning. I was in the boondocks years ago at night in the winter when my tape deck started slowing down in a Nissan. Thank goodness. dashlights started to dim and I knew something was up. Car died as I was pulling into a motel. Without that cassette as my canary I would have had a long walk in unfamiliar territory on an Artic night