what.. a... day...

[stateofidleness]

what a lovely day I had..

2 final exams today (which were VERY hard) and on the way to class, my battery light starts flashing and shortly after, the ABS light goes on...

lovely..........

MY'00 2.7L 43k miles (no issues prior to today)

what is my course of action here...

my dad and I were able to jump start it but it would not hold a charge very long and would die shortly after.

i had no symptoms prior to today (it really was OUT OF THE BLUE, but it was our first really cold weather here in quite some time Texas)

although i am dreading what i think it might be, ill go ahead and ask..

if it IS the alternator, can I buy one at autozone (part # for tiptronic) and

can i buy the serpentine belt there as well?

how hard of a DIY is this to do (one day? few hours?)

I believe the battery is fine, but it won't hold a charge while the car is running... only when it is connected to a jumpered vehicle will it maintain the charge.

thanks gentlemen...

my poor car is locked and sitting in a campus parking lot for the night.. i am very nervous.. AND i have an accounting final tomorrow too! bahhh

thanks

[juniinc]

very easy about a few hrs to do the job,possibly less.

bring a fully charged battery, that should be able to bring her home.

Good luck

Edited December 13, 2008 by juniinc

[stateofidleness]

ok guys, i get pretty paranoid when stuff like this happens and i start trying to cover all my bases..

when i get the car home tomorrow, do i remove the alternator from the car to get it tested at AutoZone or do they test the alternator while it's in the car? (probably a REALLY dumb question)

also, im going to let them test my current battery as well. would it be smart to replace the battery and alternator at the same time? i would think that putting a new battery in with a faulty

alternator would damage the new battery, and putting a new alternator in with the existing battery may not fix my issue so...

just trying to get my ducks in order to get back on the road as quick as possible (borrowing the folks' car and you know they love that *rolls eyes*)

also, does AutoZone sell the serpentine belt, and if the alternator they have does not have a pulley on it (ive read this on other threads), is this ok?

thanks!

[Glyn]

Before you do anything - stop panicking.

This could be either the battery or the alternator - battery is cheapest so thats the first thing to test.

Any tyre/battery dealer will have a heavy duty discharge tester for the battery - this will identify if the battery has issues - dead cells etc.

The alternator is a well known issue and can flatten a good battery - but a simple volymeter over the battery terminals will prove if charge is being delivered to the battery - with a few revs a meter should read about 14 to 16 volts.

Both jobs are easy to do and neither is going to cost an arm and a leg

[greerj1]

The car is the least of your problems. Acing your finals will have a far greater impact on your life than the alternator. Study hard.

Good luck with school.

Jim Greer