Car is messed up...Help!

[Camaro_SLP]

Last saturday I was all set to go out, just filled up a whole tank of gas, and everything was fine. Once I left, about a block down everything got extremely dim on my car (guages, every single light) and my battery gauge drop way down to the red. My check gauges light and ABS inop light came on. And I had very poor throttle response. Once I shut the car off, it would not start again. I jumped it a few times and got it started, but my check gauges light would always stay on. The battery gauge was at the very bottom, and when I test the battery, it read 9 volts.

Today I just bought an autozone Duralast gold series battery and put it in. My car started, then died. Started again and stayed on. My battery gauge Is still in the red area. So I know it's not the battery. When I did WOT, my car barely moved. There was almost no response. If I came to a stop and left it in drive, when I take my foot off the brake, the car doesn't roll forward like it's suppose to. My check gauges light is STILL ON.

Any suggestions on what the problem may be? I'm planning on changing the fuel filter, spark plugs and wires, and cat as a start. Does anyone know what these symptoms may be from?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[camaro_dakota]

Sounds like your alternator died man that sucks but its not too pricey to fix especially if you do it yourself it is easy to do if you are slow it would take maybe an hour but should be about 20 min or less if you know what your doin and that includes clean-up. Thats what i think it is you can go to a place like advanced auto to have them check your alt and see if its good if it is maybe you have a bigger problem or a shorting wire. But my best guess is the alt good luck man hope it works out.
Dakota

[silvachris1]

Yeah, I'd have to go with the alternator too. Pretty quick change for me too. I had it down to five minute off and back on.

[tmays]

5 minutes!!! Damn, now I feel dumb, It takes me about ten and a lot of screaming just to get the serpentine belt back on..lol

[Camaro_SLP]

Is a symptom of a bad alternator very poor throttle response?

[silvachris1]

If the alt is not charging, then the car is running on batter power only. It wont take very long to drain one with all the electronics running in our cars. When my alternator started dying on me, I didn't have any throttle problems, but the voltage gauge would flucuate with the throttle. The problem still sounds like the alt to me, but whether or not the throttle response is directly caused by the alt, I don't know.
I never had any trouble getting the belt back on. But I have like a 2 foot breaker bar. With all the right tools, and having to do the process 9 times in one day to find a good alternator from Advance Auto, you get kinda good at it.

[Camaro_SLP]

Thank you all for your responses.

It turns out it was indeed the alternator. I used a battery tester when the battery was just sitting there...It read 12.25 volts about..when I turned my car on,,it dropped down, and stayed at about 12.09...the alternator *should* bring it up in the 14's. That can also explain why my check gauges light is stuck on..

I spent $80 for a new battery with a 3 yr warrenty...and $110 for a new alternator with a lifetime warrenty.

Would you recommend buying a new accessory belt? How much do those run for? Could that also be a cause in the problem?

Thanks again.

[TurboKillaZ]

unless its cracked

[ka50]

You really don't need to buy all the xtra stuff when ONE thing goes wrong. Why waste 80$ on battery if the old one was still good?

[PewterBird]

When I did replaceed my alt, I went ahead and "splurged" on the extra 15 bucks for a new belt. What the heck, I was in the auto store it was on the shelf. Why not replace the stock one.

[Camaro_SLP]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ka50:
You really don't need to buy all the xtra stuff when ONE thing goes wrong. Why waste 80$ on battery if the old one was still good?<hr></blockquote>


Actually..The battery might have been the problem in the first place...It could have had a bad cell..and caused the alternator to work extra hard to keep it up..then when I replaced the battery..my alternator died immediately..

In this situation replacing them both at the same time was a neccassity. Besides, I've never changed the battery since I bought the car..It needed a new one.

Anyways, both have been replaced, and all my warning lights went away. My car is back to normal, if not better.

[camaro_speedemon]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Camaro_SLP:
Is a symptom of a bad alternator very poor throttle response?<hr></blockquote>

Well, electricity causes the spark to happen on the spark plug, and if the alternator is shot and the battery's dead or low, then it's not going to produce a good enough spark to burn all the fuel.