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eguiyab
02-13-2010, 10:46 AM
Hey Guys,

I had a bit of a situation this morning which has left me a little unsettled.
It started as a normal morning, I had to drop off the wife at work. I started the 3 and had noticed the battery warning light on. It was the first time I have ever noticed the light. I figured it was indicating that my battery was starting to crap out or possibly alternator.

This is a 2004 Hatch GT with the original battery and alternator, so I figure i had a good run and its about due for change. However, I've never even had a difficult start, let alone ever needed a boost. So I turn off the car and restarted it, to see if it might clear the light, but nothing.

I decided to drive and be cautious. I drove from Finch/Pharmacy area to Lawrence/Midland area with absolutely no issues. The car drove perfectly normal. I turned off the car at my wife's work, and restarted it just to check if the light would go away. Still on.

So, I head back home. On my way back, around Kennedy Commons I noticed my

1. ABS light flickering then
2. My power steering Light Flickering then
3. My EBrake Light comes on
4. My stereo keeps turning off and on again.
5. Air Bag lights in dash and near the ash tray come on.

Then all of a sudden they all stay on. My speedo starts boucing all over the place, then finally just stops working. The car becomes difficult to drive, cant really turn it cuz of no power steering. So I limp home, and just as Im about to reach home, the tranny drops to 3rd (Auto) and wont change gear, in auto or manual mode.

I finally limp home, turn off the car, and its dead. It wont crank over, nothing. I leave it for a few mins, get my bro inside to help me check out the car, and by the time we get back outside (15mins), it cranks over fine.

Like nothing ever happened. No warning lights, no nothing.

Its got me a little worried, as it happened suddenly, and also it pretty much took out all the systems in the car. I could only imagine what might have happened if i was on the highway.

akh053
02-13-2010, 10:59 AM
must be that time of the month....joking aside, sounds pretty rough, thank god you got back alright tho. curious to see what the techies have to say about this tho!!!

MajesticBlueNTO
02-13-2010, 01:29 PM
do a load test on the charging system just to be sure. this happened to another member and it ended up being his alternator that was on its way out

Trinidad
02-13-2010, 01:43 PM
I was thinking along the same lines, I had the same sort of thing happen on my old camry and it was the harness that connected up to the alternator.

eguiyab
02-13-2010, 05:23 PM
Drove it again today after the it started up with no issues. I drove fine.
Restarted it again this evening, and the light is back. I'm not gonna risk it.
Putting it back in the garage and just take it to a shop on Tuesday.

Now, I'd like to just go out and my a new battery off the bat. It is a number of years old, but not sure if its a good idea.

Any suggestions?

rab33
10-13-2010, 01:51 AM
Same thing happened to me last week and again today - replacing the alternator and battery tomorrow.

Zoom Zoom Boy
10-15-2010, 10:58 PM
Alternator is most likely on the way out. As someone suggested, have them check the charging system and if required, replace both the alternator and the battery.

McGuyver_3
10-17-2010, 08:29 PM
Sounds like an alternator. Just dont go out and buy a new battery yet because if your alternator is at fault you wouldnt want to damage a perfectly good battery. As for why your car was going all cookey, the car is running on whatever power is left in the battery and once that hits a certain low level their is not enough power to keep all the electrical going in the car causing it to do all sorts of funky things

mazdilla
10-17-2010, 09:45 PM
McGuyver is right.

It is either the alternator that's charging intermitently, or the battery is sulphated and not holding/taking a charge correctly.

Do the following:

1) Run a load test on the battery 'after it has sat for a while` (Clip load tester to battery and have someone start the car, if the tester reads red; battery is pooched.)

if the battery is good (green area on tester)

2) then check to see if the alternator is charging with a voltmeter at the battery posts (Select the 20 volt point/it should read over 12.8 volts at the very least)

For the price you would pay a shop to do this, you can buy the necessary diagnostic tools at Princess Auto/CT. (Read the instructions that come with them, simple really.)

Load tester at PA is about $30
Voltmeter is about $20

Diagnostic at shop is about $80; save $30, learn a little; and have the satisfaction of DIY.

Priceless!