Rep Power: 0

Update: July 2
Just to confirm, yes, the battery light was on when the car was running.

I did all the trouble shooting as Ezone described, so I'm replacing the alternator. The battery light went off when I unplugged the 4 wire connector.

I have just been hit with another problem: when I removed the alternator, the upper mounting bolt was missing. Any one know the size out where I could find that info? Furthermore, could that be why the alternator is pooched now? How does that even happen? I've never worked on an alternator removal before, so maybe someone forgot to put the bolt back in or maybe it just "fell" out?

Thanks again!

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Update: June 29
So I went a head and looked up some tests. I'm confused at where I should go with the information that I have.

I tested my new 12v battery, and it sits at about 12.6v. I turned on the car and the reading dropped to 12.18v. Does that mean that the alternator is dead?

I checked the belt on the alternator - it's on, and spinning, and I gave it a little squeeze with some slack, but most of it is from bending or pulling at the alternator.

What should I do now? Should I just replace the alternator? Are there other diagnostics I could do to check if maybe there's a loose connection? Please, any information would help.

cheers.

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Original Post: June 28

My battery died after just being under 2 years old. The shop said the old one didn't hold a charge after trying to charge it back up. I got a new one under warranty.

I also purchased a multimeter.

Because my car battery died and couldn't hold a charge after being so young, I want to test it and see what could be wrong. I know I have an electrical problem. If you look on my previous posts, you can see that I had quiet an odd one.

This is my first time doing a battery test, so any tips would help. What should I be looking for on the meter? What kind of tests should I do? How do I even start? Are there an standard numeric values I could find that I could compare my findings too?

Thanks again, CF

 
Rep Power: 244

Looks like a bad alternator. Check the connections at the alternator and make sure the battery terminals are tight. The voltage should jump up to 14 once the car is running.

Is the "battery" light on in the car?

 
Rep Power: 0

As Golnat said, check the ring terminal with the 10mm nut on the alternator. Mine was doing the same thing and I removed the alternator thinking it was bad, got it tested and passed. The terminal was just rusted.

 
Rep Power: 0

I'll check my connections tonight.

Yes, the "battery" light is on.

 
Rep Power: 518

On while the engine is running?
(It's supposed to stay on until the engine is started, should extinguish once it's running.)


Unplug the 4 wire connector from the alternator while the engine is running, see if the battery light goes out.

If it goes out, the alternator is bad.
If it stays on with the 4 wire plug disconnected and engine running, something else is wrong.