I need someone to tell me what is wrong with my car

[MiltonCutie]

i have a 1995 mx3 V6 that recently decided it did not want to start. It tries to but wont actually turn over to start. The battery is new as of 1.5 years ago. I did notice that there is a lot of oil in the back spark plugs, but maybe thinking that the alternator is gone. The charge battery light kept coming on when using my lights, wipers ect, but the car was still running for a good week after that. I have never changed the alternator or any original parts. I was wondering if there is anyone out there close to milton that could come where I am to look at my car.. I am trying to not tow it to a place and then have to tow it back. I just need someone to tell me what is wrong with my car, therefore i can fix it and sell it.
Any help would be appreacited.. thanks!!!!
and to think, i just replaced all the rotors and brakes thinking the car would be good for the winter..

[mitmaks]

check your battery, have it tested. It might not be taking charge anymore cause it's old. Might have to replace it. If it's not battery then check your alternator

[wytbishop]

As the brushes in the alternator start to wear out, you will notice that at low RPM and under high electric output the charge light will start to come on. If the battery was no longer charging it would come on constantly and stay on until the battery is dead and the car would die. If the light is intermittent it’s the alternator.

I will 90% guarantee it. You can easily pull the alternator and have it tested at the local parts store. They will probably be able to tell you if the regulator or rectifier has popped. That does happen, but most likely it’s the brushes have worn out. A good auto-electric shop can replace the brushes for $50 – 100 dollars. A reconditioned alternator at Canadian Tire or Partsource is about $240 + $100 core charge which you will get back when you give them your old alternator.

If you don’t plan to keep the car pull the alternator and have it tested at Canadian Tire. They will do that for free and can tell you what’s wrong with it. Then take it to an auto electric shop and have it repaired as cheaply as possible.

If you are going to drive it for the winter I recommend getting a remanufactured alternator. It’s a very easy fix and has a 3 year guarantee.

[MiltonCutie]

thanks so much.. its starting to make sense to me.. i know the basics about cars so i was stumped when this happened..

[ninjajim4]

if you're going to start troubleshooting yourself, you should invest in some tools. a thing like this can be easily verified with a multimeter. you should get one and see if your battery has 12 volts. then, if it's less, which it probably is since it won't start, jump start it. while it's running check voltage again. if you're getting 13-14v between the posts, then you can rule out your alternator and replace your battery. if it's less, then replace the alternator. i would do that waaaaaaay before pulling either part out and having it tested.

[wytbishop]

It doesn't sound to me like she wants to do any troubleshooting. Have someone help you pull it off and get the guys at Canadian Tire to tell you if it's good or not.

Remove in the order shown in the diagram.

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[Red Rocket]

It doesn't sound to me like she wants to do any troubleshooting. Have someone help you pull it off and get the guys at Canadian Tire to tell you if it's good or not.



http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... /G-013.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Damn bro,

Also it's ur altenator, mine was 180 to rebuild cuz the armature was completely fried, but still better then any prices i got, all were around 400

[Inodoro Pereyra]

if you're going to start troubleshooting yourself, you should invest in some tools. a thing like this can be easily verified with a multimeter. you should get one and see if your battery has 12 volts. then, if it's less, which it probably is since it won't start, jump start it. while it's running check voltage again. if you're getting 13-14v between the posts, then you can rule out your alternator and replace your battery. if it's less, then replace the alternator. i would do that waaaaaaay before pulling either part out and having it tested.

And you'd be making a mistake.
Having 12 volts on an unloaded battery proves nothing, except that there's no short circuited cells. A battery can have almost no current capacity at all, and still show MORE than 12V.
Also, having 13-14V with the car running does not necessarily mean the battery is the only culprit. You can have a wiring problem, a short, a loose ground, etc.
And if it's less, that is also no proof whatsoever that the alternator is bad. It can be again the wiring, a loose contact, a fuse, etc.
And last, the most dangerous part: if the battery is shot, the last thing you should do is jump start the car. Doing so can cause a host of other problems, from blowing the main fuse, to completely frying the ECU.

MiltonCutie: Mitmaks and Wytbishop are spot on. Take your battery and alternator off, and have them tested. if the battery is low, have it SLOW charged. It'll take 24 hs, but it's worth it.
If it's neither one, report back and we'll help you figure it out.

[Ryan]

She(assuming) says the car doesn't start at all, and since the car cranks, the battery isn't dead, nor is the alternator. A car can run without either the alty or the battery. Can't start without battery.

I'd check disty for sure, and address that oil-in-sparkplug-well problem with a new set of valvecover gaskets.

check for spark is easiest. Pull out a plug, and put it back into the sparkplug wire and hold the end of the sparkplug close to something metal in the engine bay and check for a bright spark when someone else tries to start.

Does the Check Engine light come on at all? (aside from key in 'on' position)

[_-Night-Shade-_]

And you'd be making a mistake.
Having 12 volts on an unloaded battery proves nothing, except that there's no short circuited cells. A battery can have almost no current capacity at all, and still show MORE than 12V.
Also, having 13-14V with the car running does not necessarily mean the battery is the only culprit. You can have a wiring problem, a short, a loose ground, etc.

Then what's the point of car volt gauges?

[ninjajim4]

It doesn't sound to me like she wants to do any troubleshooting. Have someone help you pull it off and get the guys at Canadian Tire to tell you if it's good or not.

Remove in the order shown in the diagram.

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... /G-013.gif

so you think she doesn't want to troubleshoot her problem, but she wants to unbolt her compressor, pull off her alternator and have it replaced, rebuilt or put back if it comes back good..?

if you're going to start troubleshooting yourself, you should invest in some tools. a thing like this can be easily verified with a multimeter. you should get one and see if your battery has 12 volts. then, if it's less, which it probably is since it won't start, jump start it. while it's running check voltage again. if you're getting 13-14v between the posts, then you can rule out your alternator and replace your battery. if it's less, then replace the alternator. i would do that waaaaaaay before pulling either part out and having it tested.

And you'd be making a mistake.
Having 12 volts on an unloaded battery proves nothing, except that there's no short circuited cells. A battery can have almost no current capacity at all, and still show MORE than 12V.
Also, having 13-14V with the car running does not necessarily mean the battery is the only culprit. You can have a wiring problem, a short, a loose ground, etc.
And if it's less, that is also no proof whatsoever that the alternator is bad. It can be again the wiring, a loose contact, a fuse, etc.
And last, the most dangerous part: if the battery is shot, the last thing you should do is jump start the car. Doing so can cause a host of other problems, from blowing the main fuse, to completely frying the ECU.

MiltonCutie: Mitmaks and Wytbishop are spot on. Take your battery and alternator off, and have them tested. if the battery is low, have it SLOW charged. It'll take 24 hs, but it's worth it.
If it's neither one, report back and we'll help you figure it out.

oh please.. show me a battery that has more than 12 volts that won't start a car. a battery that's going out doesn't hold a charge. you're telling me, 9 out of 10 times you can't diagnose a bad battery by seeing if it will hold a charge? i take that back. more like 99 out of 100 times? what exactly do you think those battery testers at Autozone do?

and if it's putting out less than 13-14 volts, yes, of course it COULD be something else.. obviously. it could be a freakin broken belt. anything under the sun. but what's the first thing anybody who knows anything would suggest the problem is? alternator. it's THEN that i would bother to pull the thing out and test, not before. if you were going to solicit somebody's help, i think you'd have an easier time getting them to click on their multimeter and hold up two probes than to jack up your car and break out the socket set.

as for jump starting your car risking damage, that's true ANY time you jump your car. and yet people do it. i do it. why? because it's fast, easy, and little risk. makes sense. am i worried about blowing fuses? that's exactly what fuses are for, though i've yet to blow one myself on my MX, having jumped countless times. if you want to be super paranoid, then sure, by all means take it out, haul it to the store have them charge it, have them test it, then hook it back up and again, TEST your alternator ON your car like any sane reasonable person would do.

i honestly can't believe you guys are pushing back on these very simple things that you or anybody else should check first before dismantling your car

[Inodoro Pereyra]

oh please.. show me a battery that has more than 12 volts that won't start a car. a battery that's going out doesn't hold a charge. you're telling me, 9 out of 10 times you can't diagnose a bad battery by seeing if it will hold a charge? i take that back. more like 99 out of 100 times? what exactly do you think those battery testers at Autozone do?

Sure. Here's 4:



That good enough for you?

And here you have 2 more, that are just the oposite:



As you can see, they're LESS than 12V, and in perfectly good shape.

And no, I'm not telling you that. On the contrary, I'm telling you that 100 out of 100 times you CAN diagnose a battery by seeing if it will hold a charge. But a multimeter can NOT give you that information.

and if it's putting out less than 13-14 volts, yes, of course it COULD be something else.. obviously. it could be a freakin broken belt. anything under the sun. but what's the first thing anybody who knows anything would suggest the problem is? alternator. it's THEN that i would bother to pull the thing out and test, not before. if you were going to solicit somebody's help, i think you'd have an easier time getting them to click on their multimeter and hold up two probes than to jack up your car and break out the socket set.

Of course. And that's exactly the reason why we get dozens of perfectly good alternators a month, turned in as cores. Not to mention the several alternators we test good in front of the customer's face, after the "knowledgeable" mechanic sent them to get a new one.

as for jump starting your car risking damage, that's true ANY time you jump your car. and yet people do it. i do it. why? because it's fast, easy, and little risk. makes sense. am i worried about blowing fuses? that's exactly what fuses are for, though i've yet to blow one myself on my MX, having jumped countless times. if you want to be super paranoid, then sure, by all means take it out, haul it to the store have them charge it, have them test it, then hook it back up and again, TEST your alternator ON your car like any sane reasonable person would do.

You're twisting my words. Jumping your car properly is not any more dangerous than starting it normally. Jumping your car on a battery with an abnormally high internal impedance , as well as jumping it without a battery, highly increases the risk of frying the ECU, and that's NOT little risk.

And I'm not being paranoid. I see examples of that kind of stupidity DAILY at work.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Then what's the point of car volt gauges?

Sorry Night-Shade, I had replied to you before, but the post never went through.
Volt gauges are good to give you an idea of how the electrical system is working, not its components.
For example, if you see your voltage going down while you're driving, you know you have a problem, without needing to find out next morning when your car doesn't start, or like it happened to me, when your car stalls right in the middle of the expressway. Believe me, not a good experience.

[ninjajim4]

oh please.. show me a battery that has more than 12 volts that won't start a car. a battery that's going out doesn't hold a charge. you're telling me, 9 out of 10 times you can't diagnose a bad battery by seeing if it will hold a charge? i take that back. more like 99 out of 100 times? what exactly do you think those battery testers at Autozone do?

Sure. Here's 4:



That good enough for you?

i didn't ask to see batteries with 12V that test bad, i said show me a battery with 12V that won't start a car. case in point i had a battery that was going out. if i didn't drive it for more than 3-4 days, it needed a jump. because it wouldn't hold a charge. was it degraded? yes. would it test bad if i brought it in? it did. but i used it for 3 months.

And here you have 2 more, that are just the oposite:


As you can see, they're LESS than 12V, and in perfectly good shape.

i don't at all see what this proves... this is exactly why i said you should jump the car or charge your battery, at your preference. it's my exact point. a dead alternator is obviously going to give you exactly what you posted. a good battery with low voltage. i don't recall saying that a battery with low voltage = a bad battery.

and if it's putting out less than 13-14 volts, yes, of course it COULD be something else.. obviously. it could be a freakin broken belt. anything under the sun. but what's the first thing anybody who knows anything would suggest the problem is? alternator. it's THEN that i would bother to pull the thing out and test, not before. if you were going to solicit somebody's help, i think you'd have an easier time getting them to click on their multimeter and hold up two probes than to jack up your car and break out the socket set.

Of course. And that's exactly the reason why we get dozens of perfectly good alternators a month, turned in as cores. Not to mention the several alternators we test good in front of the customer's face, after the "knowledgeable" mechanic sent them to get a new one.

i think you're making my point for me here... why in the world would you pull the alternator first without having any clue whatsoever if it's good or not? if you measure 13-14v at the posts with the car running, you can 100% rule out there being a problem with the alternator. period. that's flat undeniable. verifiable with minimum effort. obviously the opposite is harder to prove, but that's neither here nor there.

as for jump starting your car risking damage, that's true ANY time you jump your car. and yet people do it. i do it. why? because it's fast, easy, and little risk. makes sense. am i worried about blowing fuses? that's exactly what fuses are for, though i've yet to blow one myself on my MX, having jumped countless times. if you want to be super paranoid, then sure, by all means take it out, haul it to the store have them charge it, have them test it, then hook it back up and again, TEST your alternator ON your car like any sane reasonable person would do.

You're twisting my words. Jumping your car properly is not any more dangerous than starting it normally. Jumping your car on a battery with an abnormally high internal impedance , as well as jumping it without a battery, highly increases the risk of frying the ECU, and that's NOT little risk.

And I'm not being paranoid. I see examples of that kind of stupidity DAILY at work.

[/quote]

this i just plain don't agree with. basically anytime you have a dead battery you need to go test it, lest you jump your car and blow it up? if this were true, no one would jump their cars ever. if they were pulling their batteries to get tested, they'd get them charged too. tell me where in a manual it says caution, test for high impedance battery prior to jumping? again, i've NEVER seen a bad jump. well no.. unless someone hooked the black cable directly up to the negative post.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Sure. Here's 4:



That good enough for you?

i didn't ask to see batteries with 12V that test bad, i said show me a battery with 12V that won't start a car. case in point i had a battery that was going out. if i didn't drive it for more than 3-4 days, it needed a jump. because it wouldn't hold a charge. was it degraded? yes. would it test bad if i brought it in? it did. but i used it for 3 months.

You didn't ask...
Tell me, in your opinion...why do you think the owners took the battery off the car and brought it for testing? Maybe because they didn't like the label? Or do you think it might be because the battery didn't start the car?

And here you have 2 more, that are just the oposite:


As you can see, they're LESS than 12V, and in perfectly good shape.

i don't at all see what this proves... this is exactly why i said you should jump the car or charge your battery, at your preference. it's my exact point. a dead alternator is obviously going to give you exactly what you posted. a good battery with low voltage. i don't recall saying that a battery with low voltage = a bad battery.

You don't see...
I'd say what that proves is that the voltage of a battery proves nothing in on itself, wouldn't you say?

and if it's putting out less than 13-14 volts, yes, of course it COULD be something else.. obviously. it could be a freakin broken belt. anything under the sun. but what's the first thing anybody who knows anything would suggest the problem is? alternator. it's THEN that i would bother to pull the thing out and test, not before. if you were going to solicit somebody's help, i think you'd have an easier time getting them to click on their multimeter and hold up two probes than to jack up your car and break out the socket set.

Of course. And that's exactly the reason why we get dozens of perfectly good alternators a month, turned in as cores. Not to mention the several alternators we test good in front of the customer's face, after the "knowledgeable" mechanic sent them to get a new one.

i think you're making my point for me here... why in the world would you pull the alternator first without having any clue whatsoever if it's good or not? if you measure 13-14v at the posts with the car running, you can 100% rule out there being a problem with the alternator. period. that's flat undeniable. verifiable with minimum effort. obviously the opposite is harder to prove, but that's neither here nor there.

First of all, most auto part stores will test the alternator and battery WITHOUT having to take it off the car.
But, of course, if you can't take the car to the store, you pull the alternator off the car to TEST IT PROPERLY instead of relying on those mythical BS methods that most of the times end up leaving a perfectly good alternator on our shelves awaiting to be recycled.

as for jump starting your car risking damage, that's true ANY time you jump your car. and yet people do it. i do it. why? because it's fast, easy, and little risk. makes sense. am i worried about blowing fuses? that's exactly what fuses are for, though i've yet to blow one myself on my MX, having jumped countless times. if you want to be super paranoid, then sure, by all means take it out, haul it to the store have them charge it, have them test it, then hook it back up and again, TEST your alternator ON your car like any sane reasonable person would do.

You're twisting my words. Jumping your car properly is not any more dangerous than starting it normally. Jumping your car on a battery with an abnormally high internal impedance , as well as jumping it without a battery, highly increases the risk of frying the ECU, and that's NOT little risk.

And I'm not being paranoid. I see examples of that kind of stupidity DAILY at work.

this i just plain don't agree with. basically anytime you have a dead battery you need to go test it, lest you jump your car and blow it up? if this were true, no one would jump their cars ever. if they were pulling their batteries to get tested, they'd get them charged too. tell me where in a manual it says caution, test for high impedance battery prior to jumping? again, i've NEVER seen a bad jump. well no.. unless someone hooked the black cable directly up to the negative post.

Again, you've never seen. I think that's your problem: you don't see. Or maybe you refuse to see.
Or maybe you're just being argumentative because you don't want to "lose the discussion".

Let me explain you something:
First, this is not a philosophical issue. It's a TECHNICAL issue, and, as that, what you agree with or not is completely irrelevant. Things are as they are, period. If you don't agree with them, try to find somebody to re-write the laws of physics the way you like them.
Second, we're not here to win or lose any discussion. We're here to help a member having trouble. If you want to take risks with your car, feel free, but don't advise others to do the same.
Third, the fact that you've never seen a bad jump doesn't mean they don't exist. It just means you haven't seen enough.