Re: I need someone to tell me what is wrong with my car
Posted: September 22nd, 2009, 9:27 am
ok i'm going to lay this out for you straight away, because clearly you don't get it. let's take scenario 1. you have a bad battery, but you don't realize it. you get your car running (and again, i don't care how). you put your meter between the posts, and get 13-14v. that right there says BAD BATTERY. agree or disagree? and all you needed was a multimeter.
scenario 2, you start up your car, and it you're not getting any voltage output from the alternator. what are you going to do? have the alternator tested. sure, a lazy mechanic might immediately assume it's the alternator without any further looking, hence your little reference about good alternators and 'expert mechanics'. more cases than not, he'd be right. i didn't once say NEVER get your alternator tested. i said, don't go blindly pulling parts, ones that aren't even quickly accessible, just to test them. let's just say it IS a case of something other than the alternator. how would you know? you'd need to confirm first and foremost that your alternator is known to be working.
here's a quick anecdote. my gf's car died on her right in the middle of the road, and she was stranded. i came over and jumped her car (nothing blew up), then took my meter and tested, got no charge between the posts. i came to the logical conclusion it was PROBABLY the alternator. i'm not saying it couldn't be a broken wire, or a bad ground, i'm saying it was PROBABLY the alternator. we were pretty far from home, so i pulled her battery and took it to good ol pep boys to get a full charge, so she could drive on battery back to my place, and i could swap out the alternator in the garage. so what did they say when they hooked it up? 'this battery is bad'. i said, 'really now? because i know for a fact this car has a charging problem.' so to prove their point, they pull a brand new battery off the shelf, and that tests bad too. gee that's strange. they pull ANOTHER one. also tests bad. so basically everyone for who knows how long who came into that store to get their battery tested all bought new batteries, and who knows if they needed it or not. i would have been one of them, if i didn't keep a multimeter in my trunk and didn't take the 5 seconds get an indication of where the problem was. guess what the problem ended up being? the alternator. and actually, as a i recall, after bringing the alternator elsewhere, they couldn't even test the one i brought in because they didn't have the proper connector for it, even though it was a 2000 honda accord. not exactly a rare car. i changed it out anyway and when i started it up, it was getting charge between the posts. problem solved. a story like that doesn't convince you, i don't know what will.
as for jumping cars.. i mean seriously, whatever.. i'm not going to debate that with you. some people refuse to jump a car at all. you're trying to qualify it by saying you shouldn't jump a car under certain circumstances, which you could never know without testing your battery, which you need to have fully charged in order to do. it's cyclical. if you think me telling someone to jump their car is bad, risky advice so be it. every emergency car kit i've ever seen has a pair of jumper cables in them. i happen to think telling people to start pulling parts willy nilly off their cars is bad advice too
scenario 2, you start up your car, and it you're not getting any voltage output from the alternator. what are you going to do? have the alternator tested. sure, a lazy mechanic might immediately assume it's the alternator without any further looking, hence your little reference about good alternators and 'expert mechanics'. more cases than not, he'd be right. i didn't once say NEVER get your alternator tested. i said, don't go blindly pulling parts, ones that aren't even quickly accessible, just to test them. let's just say it IS a case of something other than the alternator. how would you know? you'd need to confirm first and foremost that your alternator is known to be working.
here's a quick anecdote. my gf's car died on her right in the middle of the road, and she was stranded. i came over and jumped her car (nothing blew up), then took my meter and tested, got no charge between the posts. i came to the logical conclusion it was PROBABLY the alternator. i'm not saying it couldn't be a broken wire, or a bad ground, i'm saying it was PROBABLY the alternator. we were pretty far from home, so i pulled her battery and took it to good ol pep boys to get a full charge, so she could drive on battery back to my place, and i could swap out the alternator in the garage. so what did they say when they hooked it up? 'this battery is bad'. i said, 'really now? because i know for a fact this car has a charging problem.' so to prove their point, they pull a brand new battery off the shelf, and that tests bad too. gee that's strange. they pull ANOTHER one. also tests bad. so basically everyone for who knows how long who came into that store to get their battery tested all bought new batteries, and who knows if they needed it or not. i would have been one of them, if i didn't keep a multimeter in my trunk and didn't take the 5 seconds get an indication of where the problem was. guess what the problem ended up being? the alternator. and actually, as a i recall, after bringing the alternator elsewhere, they couldn't even test the one i brought in because they didn't have the proper connector for it, even though it was a 2000 honda accord. not exactly a rare car. i changed it out anyway and when i started it up, it was getting charge between the posts. problem solved. a story like that doesn't convince you, i don't know what will.
as for jumping cars.. i mean seriously, whatever.. i'm not going to debate that with you. some people refuse to jump a car at all. you're trying to qualify it by saying you shouldn't jump a car under certain circumstances, which you could never know without testing your battery, which you need to have fully charged in order to do. it's cyclical. if you think me telling someone to jump their car is bad, risky advice so be it. every emergency car kit i've ever seen has a pair of jumper cables in them. i happen to think telling people to start pulling parts willy nilly off their cars is bad advice too
