i think its the battery!!

[92lazerturbors]

ok it started about a week ago. My battery started loosing power so i charged it up and drove it to work, I got off of work and my car was compleatly dead so i jumped it and drove it home. It didn't drive strange or any thing on the way home, so when i got there i put it back on the charger over night. the next morning on the way to work i pulled on the the pavement and went to accelerate up to speed using about 1/4 throttle like normal. In 1st gear it was ok until the boost kicked in, it sputtered, backfired, bucked and almost. died so i let out as soon as it happend and put it into second. Same thing happend. After I got it back home I thought that the wastgate was stuck closed and i hit fuel cut, so i tinkered with it some more( I had the car on the charger again) and took it on a test drive and it worked perfectly, and I drove it for a couple of days like that with no problam. I went to start my car today and it cranked over kind of slow but I didn't think anything of it, pulled out onto the pavement and blam all hell broke loose... again.

Now the interesting part. On the way home my lights got super dim, couldn't see my dash lights and every time I went to maintain my speed it bucked sputered and backfired, my radio wouldn't even light up. I was driving like 20mph on the side of the road in 3rd, all of the sudden it acted like it was going to die so i tried to modulate the gas to keep it alive while reving it all at the same time. Out of no where all of the lights got super bright, so i pulled back on to the road and it ran like a little monster.

What do you guys think it is? I think it is the battery because it would cause the lights, ignition and the fuel problams. Before you say it is the alternator it isn't I had it checked, besides the alternator cant produce electricety unless it has some going to it. it would produce a small amount but not enough to sustain running the car.

what do you think? I know what i think it is, but i could deffenitly use your .02
Thanks in advance, Robert

 

[ThingyNess]

It's an alternator problem.

The alternator does require the battery upon startup to charge its field coil, which allows the alternator to actually function. However, once the car is started, you can remove the battery completely and throw it away and the car (and alternator) will continue to work just fine.

When you're driving, you don't need your battery at all. Check your alternator and all its connections again.

 

[ilikespeeding]

It's an alternator problem.

The alternator does require the battery upon startup to charge its field coil, which allows the alternator to actually function. However, once the car is started, you can remove the battery completely and throw it away and the car (and alternator) will continue to work just fine.

When you're driving, you don't need your battery at all. Check your alternator and all its connections again.

We use internal voltage regulators dont we?

 

[surgeon_general]

You know this seems dumb. but i was diagnosing a problem somewhere along the lines of yours. Actually almost exactly the same. SO im testing crap and blah blah and my old man comes over and tells me to check my batter terminals. Im like yeah yeah tightened then already etc etc. I go back to trying to figure stuff out.

long story short at the end of the day frustrated i check my terminals. and boom. there was a little like hole/crack in the inside of my terminal even though it was tight as all hell... It was a bad connection somehow. cars been running perfect ever since.

 

[Simpleman1]

Clean the battery terminals and cable terminals with wire brush or sand paper. Then check the voltage using a volt meter while the car is idling. It should be between 13 to 14 volts. If it is less, your alternator is bad. The battery should hold charge no less than 12.5 volts overnight. This info. is from my personal experience.

 

[da_reeseboy]

I'd say check the battery connections and grounds to make sure they are tight and not corroded.

Here's my personal experience on this line - my old car (97 nissan sentra) was bucking and sputtering under heavy throttle and it was driving me nuts ### I couldn't find the cause. During about 2 weeks of screwing around trying to figure it out I replaced plugs, wires, air filter, mas, fuel filter, battery, alternator, cleaned the battery terminals and drained fuel and filled with premium to make sure it wasn't bad gas, and still no luck. After wasting all that time and money, I noticed that where the ground from the battery connected to the frame was corroded. So I replaced the entire wire and that fixed it!

just my .02

- Jesse

Another thought - the posts on your battery aren't broken, are they? (You know, able to rotate in the battery) Its probably a dumb question, but I thought we should get obvious things out of the way here.

 

[ChunkyLover53]

Like everyone else said, checking the battery terminals would be a good place to start. Get rid of any corrosion if that applies. I am having a tough time picturing what is actually happening with your car. If I am picturing this wrong please forgive me. It sounds like you are having problems on the road while in gear or "Under Load." I can say from experience if your alternator is perfectly fine, but you have a dead battery sometimes it will idle fine. But once you put it in gear and put that load on the car, it will start to act funny. For instance headlights dim, drastic idle drop, and the car dieing.

Jason

 

[92lazerturbors]

ok when i had the altornator checked i cleaned all of the contact points so thats not it. so its probably just the battery cables or the termanals. I just bought a battery tonight so in the morning i will make sure there is no corrosion and every thing has good connections.
you guys are the best. I really had no idea that the battery could cause problems like this. thanks for the confermation.
Thanks, Robert