Whats goin on?

[bak3rme]

i think my alternator is messed up or something. possibly battery also but its only 2 years old.

a couple times i've gotten into my car to crank but nothing. no lights radio not even a click or crank when turning the key. its been pretty cold out below freezing so i donno. i can't even lock my doors when i press the lock button. after a few attempts however it fires up normally with no hesitation. i dont think its the battery because if it was..everything would reset (your Odmometer mileage would show total miles and trip A and B would be 0. however my trip A is still there and my radio is still on the same station.

what could be the prob? altenator? anyway to isolate it and test?

 

[TheDurk]

I doubt your problem is either battery or alternator. Neither would go from zero to good in seconds. I am thinking bad ground or possibly power relay. I'd also exclude the positive battery cable as that would clear your radio memory.

Check the ground that is near the engine diagnostic plug. Also the ground from battery negative to firewall. Then all the others you can find. I am cut off from my FSM/wiring manuals so I can't tell you which relays to check.

 

[bak3rme]

I doubt your problem is either battery or alternator. Neither would go from zero to good in seconds. I am thinking bad ground or possibly power relay. I'd also exclude the positive battery cable as that would clear your radio memory.

Check the ground that is near the engine diagnostic plug. Also the ground from battery negative to firewall. Then all the others you can find. I am cut off from my FSM/wiring manuals so I can't tell you which relays to check.

yea i hope its a ground..forgot to think about that one. as of right now its too cold to go outside and the driveway is solid ice. 100+ accidents in 1 hour so far in metro atlanta due to black ice. thanks for your knowledge durk

 

[brian2sun]

The grounds are a good place to start. Make sure the connections are tight on the battery too and the cables are not powderized from corrosion. I'll bet that it's one of those 3 things.

 

[Kurtis]

3x on the ground. TheDurk is right, your altenator or battery just doesn't fix it self. Definantly sounds like a ground.