Well I went to leave work and my car wouldnt start all the dash lights and everything turned on, but wouldnt start. I put the batt charger we have at work on it, it has an engine start feature, I used that and it started up drove home, about 1 mile, turned it off and it did the same thing as the first time, used the batt charger again, started, drove back to work, wouldnt start again, put the batt charger on it once again, and it started let it run for 5 mins and shut it down and it wouldnt again. Im thinking its the alt, but im not sure car only has 45k on it and its an 02. I dont want to take the alt out to get tested if i dont have to. Whats everyone think it is?

First thing I'd do is check the maxi fuse from B+ to the alternaot. Secondly do a voltage drop from the B+ to alternator.

You really need to test the alternator output to see if it working correctly.


- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

It's your battery. The Alternator doesn't have enough time to charge the battery in 1 mile.

If the alternator was bad, after a while the car would run like sh**.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

If you don't want to take your alternator in to get tested then take your battery to get tested. You only have to take off the terminals, and the hold down, which isn't hard and you could do it right in the parking lot of the store if you wanted.

Or just find a store that will bring their tester out to your car and they will check your battery and alt at the same time. They should be able to provide a jump as well to get you back on your way. More than likely they will tell you that your battery is shot and since you are there you can just buy a new one and replace it in the lot.