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Vehicle- 1992 Lumina with everybodies favorite 3.4 DOHC. NO Stereo, amps or any add on electrical equipment.
Symptoms- Battery light is on along with Abs light. Voltage guage is at the first guage mark after 8 or slightly lower. This drops to 8 in 10-15 minutes. Vehicle dies. battery is dead. Voltage does not change with rpm. No accesories like radio or a/c are on at anytime. Only signal lights and brake lights when needed. Headlights are off.
I have replaced the alternator with a known good unit. I had this unit tested by people I trust at O'reillys Auto parts. The original unit did not pass. Fried stator. The unit I installed did pass.
Now, the car has been sitting for at least a year if not longer. I know the battery is weak, but it will hold a charge after the battery charger is put on it.
Before you say replace the battery, Why would it hold a charge off the charger but die in the car when the Alt. tested good ? The large power wire on the alt. is in excellent shape, the battery cables look good, the grounds are clean and no wiring is pinched.
Where do I go from here? I know I should replace the battery, But I have the feeling this will not fix the problem. I have replaced the engine (last week) and this problem is confusing me. I am not an electrical genius and have a hard time with problems like this. normally if a battery is weak it will die sitting overnight. Not the case here. If the battery starts the car at night, it will start 10 hours later. I don' t think a junk battery will hold a charge that long. MAybe I am wrong. Is the guage in the car measuring voltage from the Alternator or from the battery? Could a bad battery cause the car to die after 15 minutes of stop-n-go run time? Or is alt. #2 faulty also? Any help or sugestions are greatly appreciated.
Symptoms- Battery light is on along with Abs light. Voltage guage is at the first guage mark after 8 or slightly lower. This drops to 8 in 10-15 minutes. Vehicle dies. battery is dead. Voltage does not change with rpm. No accesories like radio or a/c are on at anytime. Only signal lights and brake lights when needed. Headlights are off.
I have replaced the alternator with a known good unit. I had this unit tested by people I trust at O'reillys Auto parts. The original unit did not pass. Fried stator. The unit I installed did pass.
Now, the car has been sitting for at least a year if not longer. I know the battery is weak, but it will hold a charge after the battery charger is put on it.
Before you say replace the battery, Why would it hold a charge off the charger but die in the car when the Alt. tested good ? The large power wire on the alt. is in excellent shape, the battery cables look good, the grounds are clean and no wiring is pinched.
Where do I go from here? I know I should replace the battery, But I have the feeling this will not fix the problem. I have replaced the engine (last week) and this problem is confusing me. I am not an electrical genius and have a hard time with problems like this. normally if a battery is weak it will die sitting overnight. Not the case here. If the battery starts the car at night, it will start 10 hours later. I don' t think a junk battery will hold a charge that long. MAybe I am wrong. Is the guage in the car measuring voltage from the Alternator or from the battery? Could a bad battery cause the car to die after 15 minutes of stop-n-go run time? Or is alt. #2 faulty also? Any help or sugestions are greatly appreciated.