HELP...Alternator or Battery?

[fabolous24]

ok so heres what happend. the other night i go to start my car and its struggles to turn over and then it just dies(it never does that). so i try again this time giving it some gas while turning the key and it starts up and runs fine. i go over a friends house for a while, start her back up and i drive somewhere. im waiting outside a stor for someone with the car running and i look down at my gauges and it says im going ****in 40 mph when im just sitting there. so i start driving and put the pedal to the floor and my car accelerates like and 18 wheeler. the guages go crazy and it says im goin past 120 mph when im only goin like 10 and the ABS INOP light comes on. i drive to where i need to go, turn the car off, try to start it again and nothing happens. my lights and everything still work, but when i turn the key it just struggles for a second and nothing happens. so this morning i try jumping it and it just does the same thing, nothing happens.

im thinkin its the alternator, but either way my battery is guna be dead. so let me know what you think.

o yea and is there a way to test for a bad alternator?

[fabolous24]

and BTW i know this is all because of my system, i was planning on just buying a stronger battery and maybe a high output alternator when something like this happend.

[pontiac nino]

Autozone checks alternators and batteries for free, you can also get an optima deep cycle battery from there too. Mos def sounds like the alternator has died and maybe took the battery w/ it.
Good luck

[fabolous24]

can they check the alternator if i take it out of the car an bring it up there?

[pontiac nino]

yep, go for it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[1DangerousV6]

if your alternator is bad...i would replace both the battery and the alternator (unless the battery is somewhat new)...just a rule of thumb...you'll get a core on both [img]smile.gif[/img]

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

Hmm your alt is pretty much fried... take it out and have it tested but i know its pretty much fried. If you want to run a system i suggest a 180 amp alt from www.4alterstart.com they have the HO alts for like $200.00 shipped to your house with lifetime warantee..

Once you do that invest in an optima yellow top.

[fabolous24]

well actually i found this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

but i also know that if i install this i need to change over to 4 guage wiring. a guy up at advanced auto told me that there is probably other stuff i should change too because it will fry with that much power.

has anyone done this? becuase i do not want to end up frying my computer or something.

isnt the red top stronger than yellow? i think red top is what im getting.

BTW i charged the battery and its working fine now but i dont think its going to last.

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

That alt is a good choise, and yes you have to switch over to at least 4 gauge wiring so that all of those 180 amps of current can pass. The reason for this is that you cant efficiently pass 180 amps of current through the stock wiring.

Im clueless as to why a HO alt would mess up the PCM

Also the reason i reccomend a yellow top over a red top battery is that the yellow top is a deep cycle battery and it will last longer, by this i mean you can fully discharge it a couple of hundred times and each time it will charge right back up like new. As apposed to a regular battery and the red top battery discharge them a few times and their pretty much paper weight.

The yellow is not stronger than the red, as long as its a 12 volt battery youll be allright.

[pontiac nino]

THE BIG 3 UPGRADE Enjoy! [img]smile.gif[/img]