This is topic Need help badly... Alternator or battery in forum Tech Talk at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by RioredGT (Member # 2300) on :
 
Damn my car gave a surprise today... Went to turn it on and it "click click click". I'm thinking low battery. I give it a jump and it fires up. I disconnect the cables from the jump car, 5 seconds later my car dies. Tried to jump it again, same exact thing. It only stays on if its attached to the jump car. I noticed there's a blinking battery light on the dash. Manual says charging system needs to be checked.

Any ideas on how I can isolate whether its the battery or the alternator? Battery isn't more than 2 years old. Alternator is original. Is there anything else that could be causing this?

Car is a 98GT.
 

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Posted by x42bnx (Member # 9529) on :
 
It's not the battery, go with alternator.
 

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Posted by FivePTSlow (Member # 7682) on :
 
easiest way to tell is to get your car started then remove only the positive battery cable... if it dies then 99% it's the alternator
 

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Posted by KevinK (Member # 9234) on :
 
First, your battery is dead. It needs to be recharged if it is still good. The aternator is not designed to recharge a dead battery. That's how you fry the alternator. The battery is about 500 amps so you need to put that back into the battery somewhat slowly. It can take 2 weeks to charge a battery correctly with a battery charger.
Next put a volt meter on it while the car is running to see if it maintains the 12-14 volts. It will die at about 8-9 volts. Otherwise you are just throwing parts at it.
 

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Posted by SLOWSN95 (Member # 8269) on :
 
Its a bad alternator. Over time, your alternator drained the battery. Even if the battery is completely dead, your alternator would continue to run the car after being jumped. Batteries are there to start the car and alternators are made to keep the car running and charge the battery at the same time.
 

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Posted by 86COUPE (Member # 10068) on :
 
alternator
 

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Posted by RioredGT (Member # 2300) on :
 
Thanks for the replies guys

It turned out to be the alternator. Went to Ford and got a replacement. The thing is, this "new" one whines like crazy, makes my car sound like if I have a Vortech under the hood. Probably gonna be taking it back for another one. They're not supposed to whine like that are they?
 

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Posted by 50DADDY (Member # 3076) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by RioredGT:
Thanks for the replies guys

It turned out to be the alternator. Went to Ford and got a replacement. The thing is, this "new" one whines like crazy, makes my car sound like if I have a Vortech under the hood. Probably gonna be taking it back for another one. They're not supposed to whine like that are they?

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