might need new alternator

On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 07:35:05 GMT, wrote:

>Lawrence Glickman > wrote:
>
> > driving with your brake lights constantly on is not overly important.
> > It is better to keep the cars behind you guessing whether you are
> > stopping and slowing down or still moving.
>
>No, I was talking about the light on my dashboard indicating that
>something's up with the brakes. It's next to the oil light, the seatbelt
>light, door light, etc.
>
> > Actually no, this is a symptom of being low on headlight fluid.
>
>??? Do you mean brake fluid?
>
> > OK Janice, two things
>
>Um, where did you get the idea my name is Janice?
>
> > first, your battery isn't holding a charge. If it is more than 5
> > years old, it may be time to replace it.
>
>You might be right about that. I'm not sure how old the battery is.
>Somewhere, I have the paperwork for all the mechanical stuff done on
>the car before I bought it, so I could find out if the car has its
>original battery.
>
>Thanks,
>J

Check the brake fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. Or have
somebody do that for you. Use DOT 3 brake fluid available at almost
any store to bring it up to but not above the *full* mark if it is
low. This only costs a few dollars, and you just pour it in from the
little plastic bottle it comes in.

If you have a *maintenance-free* battery, there is a little round
window in the top of it. If you clean that window off and shine a
flashlight down it, at the bottom is a little plastic ball that will
be either green, yellow, or red. If it is yellow or red, time for a
new battery.

If it is the kind of battery you need to add water to, use distilled
water only, available for less than 1 dollar / gallon at Kmart. It is
in the same aisle as *drinking water.* Have someone check the water
level in the battery to be sure it is up to the *full marks* in the
individual cells, but not above that.

You may have to pay next to nothing to have this trouble corrected,
although I suspect the battery is on the way out. You can buy that at
Kmart also. Be sure it is fully charged on a battery charger before
installing. In fact, I think Kmart will install a new one for you for
the same cost as buying a new one. They will take the old battery for
recycling.

Lg

On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 07:04:27 GMT, wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have a '97 Corolla, which I bought second-hand two years ago. In the
>past week or two, I've noticed that my car is very sluggish starting
>up. Sounds like it's not getting enough electricity. But that only happens
>if the car hasn't been used in 24 hours or so. If I've already driven the
>car in the past few hours, it starts up fine.
>
>Also, for the past several months, the "brake" light stays on during
>the entire time I'm driving. I hadn't thought it was overly important,
>because the "idiot lights" on cars often short out or otherwise behave
>inappropriately. It's not my brakes - the brake light is pretty much
>always on while the car is running, whether I'm applying the brakes or not.
>
>Someone suggested that these two symptoms indicate that I need a new
>alternator.
>
>If that's the case, can folks suggest what would be a reasonable price
>to pay to have it replaced? I looked on the web, but could only find
>discount auto parts sites. That gives me some idea of what the mechanic
>might have to pay for the part, but not MY overall cost. I just want to
>have an idea of what to expect, so I'll know whether what the mechanic
>wants to charge is reasonable. I live in the San Francisco area.


The idiiot lights on the dash do not "short out or otherwise act
inappopriatley" on a regular basis. The brake light is trying to tell
you that either you have a failure in one of the hydraulic circuits or
you are low on fluid or the emergency brake isn't all the way off.
Your master cylinder has two hydraulic circuits. Normally one for the
front and one for the rear so that if one fails you still have the
other to stop the car in an emergency. If you are low on fluid then
you either have a leak or you have brakes that have worn to the point
of needing to be replaced. In any case it would be a good idea to
find out why that brake light is on before you have to come back here
looking for the name of a good body shop.

On the alternator issue it sounds like you either have a battery that
is reaching end of life or a drain on the battery that is running it
down over a day (like a light that isnt tunring off in the glove box
or something like that). Many of the discount parts places will test
the battery and alt for you for free. Depending on the age of the
battery you might want to just go ahead and replace it.

On alternator price.... The discount parts places don't usually have
the highest quality stuff and chances are good your mechanic wouldn't
buy an alternator from them so their price isn't all that relevant to
your question. The mechanic can buy at a discount but they then mark
the part up (to cover expense and warranty). For a very rough
estimate I would take the price you have already gotten for an
alternator then double it and add one hour for labor at the going rate
in your area.

Steve B.

If it turns out ot be the laternator it will probably be cheaper to have
it rebuilt. Look in the Yellow pages under auto eletrical repair. There
are shops that specialize in rebuilding alternators. You will probbly have
to leave the vehicle at the shop for a day.

I replaced my alternator with one from a junk yard and it's still going. I
kept the old one so it could be taken in to be rebuilt if this one starts
to go but the used one is still fine after 3 years.


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If you suspect that you have a battery or alternator problem, connect a
voltmeter across the battery terminals and measure the voltage when the
car is off vs after you start the car.

I think you have dirty connections on your battery or that is where I
would start by cleaning them and I think your car should be parked until
you fix the brakes before you kill someone.

If a cop pulls you over and sees that 'idiot' light, you 'will' end up
on the back of a tow truck with a ticket for driving an unsafe vehicle
and a demand for a safety inspection while getting the lecture about
being the 'idiot' the light is meant for....

That happened to me once just after a brake job because I didn't reset
the light manually. I was hoping it would reset itself instead of me
having to remove it and bleed it again like the book said.

A cop passed me going the same way in the next lane and saw the red
light so pulled me over. That was expensive.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I have a '97 Corolla, which I bought second-hand two years ago. In the
> past week or two, I've noticed that my car is very sluggish starting
> up. Sounds like it's not getting enough electricity. But that only happens
> if the car hasn't been used in 24 hours or so. If I've already driven the
> car in the past few hours, it starts up fine.
>
> Also, for the past several months, the "brake" light stays on during
> the entire time I'm driving. I hadn't thought it was overly important,
> because the "idiot lights" on cars often short out or otherwise behave
> inappropriately. It's not my brakes - the brake light is pretty much
> always on while the car is running, whether I'm applying the brakes or not.
>
> Someone suggested that these two symptoms indicate that I need a new
> alternator.
>
> If that's the case, can folks suggest what would be a reasonable price
> to pay to have it replaced? I looked on the web, but could only find
> discount auto parts sites. That gives me some idea of what the mechanic
> might have to pay for the part, but not MY overall cost. I just want to
> have an idea of what to expect, so I'll know whether what the mechanic
> wants to charge is reasonable. I live in the San Francisco area.
>
> Thanks,
>
> J. Wermont

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> If you suspect that you have a battery or alternator problem, connect a
> voltmeter across the battery terminals and measure the voltage when the
> car is off vs after you start the car.
>

and then what? what info do we gain from the readings etc...

thanks

In article >,
"Punch" > wrote:

> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > If you suspect that you have a battery or alternator problem, connect a
> > voltmeter across the battery terminals and measure the voltage when the
> > car is off vs after you start the car.
> >
>
> and then what? what info do we gain from the readings etc...

With no insult intended, if you need to ask that question, it's my
opinion that you aren't qualified to be working on the vehicle, and it's
unlikley that even those of us on this group with the very best of
intentions can/will walk you through it without *MUCH* more effort than
the "payment" you're offering is worth.

I'd strongly suggest you take this problem to a qualified mechanic and
pay him for his expertise, rather than trying to get the newsgroup to
diagnose a problem that your questions clearly indicate you have very
little, if any, understanding of. Doing otherwise is quite likely to end
up with you at the garage paying a real mechanic anyway, with the added
bonus that you've now spent time/money/effort that has been wasted in
trying to do "long distance diagnostics".

Now, having said that -

Put your meter across the battery with the vehicle shut down. What's it
read? Make a note of that value.

Repeat the process, this time with the engine running. What's the
reading? Write it down.

A fully charged battery should show you somewhere between 12.5 and 13.2
volts, depending on the exact battery, and what, if any, drains there
might be on it when the key is turned off.

The alternator should, when the engine is running, be putting out
something close to 14.2 volts.

If the battery shows you a lower-than-expected voltage when the key is
off, it's not fully charged. At this point, you start looking for the
answer to "why is it not fully charged?" Various factors come into play
here - battery age/condition, wiring condition, alternator output, just
to name a few - The most likely culprit at this stage is the alternator
not putting out enough juice. That's why the second reading - Was it in
the expected (14.2 volts is darn close to being "right" for any vehicle
using 12 volts) range? If so, the alternator probably isn't the trouble.

If you don't get a reading somewhere in the 14 volt range, the
alternator has problems, and it's time to decide if you want to try to
figure out what the trouble is, and how to fix it, or if you just want
to say "screw it" and drop in a new/rebuilt/reman/whatever one as a
unit. Based on the expertise level your questions suggest to me, chances
are *VERY* high that you'll be much better off just going with "gimme a
new one".

If the battery reading was low, hang a charger on it, and check the
reading again after it claims the battery is "topped up". Still low?
Probably time for a new battery.

if both battery and alternator show good readings, your trouble is
*probably* in the wiring. And that's where you step COMPLETELY outside
my abiilty/willingness to try to assist you further, and solidly into
the realm of "Either figure it out yourself, or take it to a real
mechanic."

--
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Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
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See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

If the person with a problem really wants to avoid the cost of taking the
car to a garage he can try do-it-yourself car maintnenance adn repair
books at the public library. Batteries and alternators are pretty much the
same on all cars and they have not changed for the last few decades.
Library books have diagrams and photographs and guides to troublshooting and
maintenance. I've found pretty advanced books on auto engineering at the
public library which I taken home to read and get an all 'round better
understanding of cars. I'm no mechanic. But I figure people will be
driving cars and paying a lot of money for the privilege until long after
I die so I might as well learn something about them and save myself a
bundle of money.

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