Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting My car is....dead....help please!

If what you are saying is that as soon as you disco the jumper cables the car dies, then the battery is not being charged. The first thing you need to do is check for a blown mega fuse or a broken or disconnected cable between the Alt and the battery. If everything looks good, pull the Alt and have it tested.

jeff

it doesnt die as soon as I disconnect the jumpers, it dies after some time after the jumpers got disconnected, so the battery drains with the motor on, sicne it did charge with jumpers on....

How am I gonna pull the alt? I can barely reach it, lol...

im going to assume your accessories work on this one. check the connection of the two lines from the alternator to your battery. im sure one is broken. ive never heard of an alternator going, hell ive seen ones directly out of 1980's junk cars do fine on a testor. im thinking its going to be the line to or from the alternator. the lines are hard to follow. see if you can get your hands on the haynes repair manual and try replacing the wire first. if that doesnt fix it then try a new battery or another battery out of another car. last resort if i was you would be to pull the alternator (very hard to get to, prolly have to go from underneath the car) and have it checked or replaced

It doesn�t mater if it dies right away or takes some time. The alt is not supplying a charge current to the battery. If you watch the battery voltage with your meter you will notice that it will start to fall as soon as the donor car is disco�d.

Check your Mega fuse before spending any money or removing the alt.
jeff

Mega Fuse? where is that thing at? I looked in my manual and there is no fuse that is called "mega fuse"

like i said before, im really car illiterate, lol

any1? Also, I cant seem to find the bolts for the alternator, here are some pics (i know the car is dirty right now, has been raining like no other, lots of mud on the street)

www.teamtorpid.com/alt1.jpg
www.teamtorpid.com/alt2.jpg
www.teamtorpid.com/alt3.jpg
www.teamtorpid.com/alt4.jpg
www.teamtorpid.com/alt5.jpg

And here is my car :-P

www.teamtorpid.com/alt6.jpg

ok i have the answer gauranteed. mega fuse is blown, alternator is blown, or three the plug on the back of the alt is disconnected. i had the same symptoms with my car about 4 days ago. the clip with like 5 wires in if fell off wtf. tack was bouncing all over the place, and nothing in the car worked. so check the clip. then fuse. then alt. easy.

Put it this way, is is cheaper to replace the battery and see if it's fixed or pay a monkey to tell you your car is f*&T! Replace the battery first. Mine went, it was the original motorcraft on a 98 to be expected. Sometimes the batteries get tired and need to be replaced. I would start there if your voltage is low after start. It doesn't necessarily mean that your alternator isn't trying to charge the battery, it may be that your battery isn't just taking the charge. Cheap fix and diagnosis. Hope this helps.

1) Stuff works right now
2) I took it to advanced auto (my battery) and they charged it, the battery is OK
3) I can turn the car on right now, but it slowly looses its charge again
4) wires ON the alternator are fine, Im still trying to track down the exact wire from the alternator to the battery or w/e if there is something messed up
5) right now the battery light comes on at about 2500 RPM
6) I still dont know what the heck the mega fuse is lol