Car Battery or Alternator out?

[HondaChick]

My car (Honda Accord) won't start. It will take a jump but once I turn it off, it won't start again. Is this the battery or alternator? What are the symptoms of each?

Thanks.

[Jamp]

How soon do you switch it off again after the jump (i.e. has it had a chance to charge)? How old is the battery? Did anything set off the failure (has the car been standing for more than a couple of days)?

Use a multimeter to check the voltage across the (charged) battery with everything off. Also do the same with the engine on, then report back to us - should then be able to have a fair guess at where your problem lies.

Alternatively a garage would almost certainly do this for you for free, if they thought they were going to sell you either a battery or alternator.

[epninety]

As Jamp said, get it checked (5mins at a friendly garage) or get a meter and measure voltages. However, do it soon, or you may soon find the answer to your question is "Both".

Alternators can be damaged by running too hot due to operating with bad batteries.

[steveo3002]

could be either

halford and most motorist shop will do a free check....id suggest you take thier free check then discover you dont have enough ££££for their replacement part and go shop around for a cheap one

halfords are expensive for batterys

you could try taking it for a 30min ride and seeing if that puts any charge back into the battery....does the battery warning lamp light up on the dash?

[HondaChick]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to the neighborhood garage now to have them do a check...

By the way, the battery is 3 years old and the alternator is almost 4 years old.

[ts_aly2000]

I had just this yesterday, ...and about 6-months ago. For these occasions I have a multimeter which plugs into the cigarette socket telling you if the alternator is charging.

Batteries are good for about 2-years+. Completely flattening a battery will buckle the plates and cause sulphates taking the punch out of the sulphuric acid.

Just buy a standard cheap battery from a motorfactors paying about £30. DO NOT be ripped off by Halfords. Also, an alternator can be reconditioned while you wait. Often it's the regulator/brush pack which needs to be changed costing about £25, they just screw on and off. If you stators are worn then it's a bigger job and almost worth getting a part exchange alternator. But often changing the regulator/brush pack will sort things out.

I just keep the multimeter in the car all the time.

Also... Occasionally batteries will just go flat for almost no reason at all. Once you have it started and charging they won't do it again. Mine did this yesterday when the weather became hot. And since being bump started by three very strong men :) has been fine since. The alternator is charging, the meter says so. The battery is holding the charge. It just happens now and then for no obvious reason at all.

ALSO.... tapping the black box on the back of the alternator can be used as a get you home. With worn brushes they start to stick in the housing, and tapping the housing is just enough to get them to contact with the stators.

Hope you liked that :-)

£25 for a new regulator box. But first thing I'd do would be the battery, and a meter in the car. :)

This shouldn't cost you any more than £60 to sort out for a new battery and regulator/brush pack.

Hope it works out. Only reason I know this is that I've come to absolutely loath cars. I hate the bloody things!! Most problems on mine are solved with a hammer!! The number of times I've had blokes saying, "It's your timing love," and I've just hit the relevant bit with a hammer their jaws have dropped. Men seem to think every problem on a car is something to do with the timing.

Do you remember The Fast Show sketch where Arabella Weir was standing around the car with a group of men with them trying to discuss how to get into it. She suggested a tennis ball cut in half and they took absolutely no notice of her at all, then a few minutes later one of them suggested it!!!!!!

It'll be fine. Really. And it's stressful I know ((((((hugs))))).

[Stephen Leak]

The chances are that it is the battery. With normally available test equipment (ie. a multimeter) you cannot really test the battery - even a relatively flat one will still give a reading of about 12 volts. However, with the engine running, a reading of about 14 volts across the battery terminals indicates that the alternator is charging OK.

[mikenco]

Stephen is correct, a voltmeter will not give an accurate state of a car battery.

Ask your local garage to do a 'capacity' check on the battery for you.

Be careful if you do not know what you are doing under the bonnet, car batteries can be dangerous. (http://www.iam.org.uk/motoringtrust/advice/cars/yourcarbattery.htm)

Rgds

Mike
(IAM member)

[vaio]

[QUOTE=mikenco;4937306].....Be careful if you do not know what you are doing under the bonnet, car batteries can be dangerous.......


Especially if you manage to short it out with a wedding ring
End result is a nasty burn and a blob of gold on the floor

[Alias_Omega]

If you have AA cover, ring them and get them to check it. They will test the alternator and the battery and tell you what is wrong, and try to fit it.

Then you can ring the garage and tell them what is wrong with it.

If it is the alternator, its not a hard job. If its the battery, thats not hard too..

Worst bit is putting codes back into radio's and setting clocks up again.

[manda1205]

I had just this yesterday, ...and about 6-months ago. For these occasions I have a multimeter which plugs into the cigarette socket telling you if the alternator is charging.

Batteries are good for about 2-years+.


Sorry but do you really need a machine to tell you your alternators had it? A couple of weeks ago I went to get home from shopping, first off me and my mum had to push start car, this was normal as the battery had been playing up for ages. Next we're half way home and the cd player stops, just the radio on, next radio goes, then the airbag light comes on, then the battery light (at which point I knew we didn't have long and that it was the alternator), then we're about a mile from home and it start missing like mad, managed the last mile flat out in 2nd gear. Conked out right outside my drive! Now although my dads a mechanic and Im just a "dumb blonde" I was well aware it was the alternator and I did not need to buy a machine to tell me this.
Also If you mean that batterys only last 2years, where do you get your batterys from? I had a g reg fiesta and when the battery went on that 8years later my dad checked the old one and it was the original ford battery!