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Engine dies w/o battery power

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BLACK'98DSM

5+ Year Contributor
4,450
1,889
Feb 9, 2019
Alabama
Back a few months ago my negative cable popped off of the battery and when it did the engine completely died. Right away.

I never really thought anything about it then, but according to the ASE guides an engine should be able to power itself without the battery. I find this to be true with cars from the 60's.

Is there any reason why the 420a won't run without a battery (once started)? Or is there something wrong with mine? This would usually point to a bad alternator, but my battery does not lose charge.
 
I’m having the same issue with my 97 gsx i picked up when it starts, it does a pull and completely shuts off, no dash lights and won’t turn over again, dash lights are really dim, i think the batteries dead, and alternator shot, gotta look into it
 
+1 on alternator. Car can definitely just run on the alternator I had a situation where I hit a few large bumps going a bit too fast and my trunk-mounted (unsecured) battery went flying. Car kept running for me to pull over and deal with it.
 
But the alternator charges the battery, and my battery never dies. Sometimes I run the stereo for 15-20 mins with the engine not running, but it starts up every time. I will definitely test the alternator, maybe it's just weak and not failed yet.
 
The alternator could be putting out 12v-13v above say 2k rpm, but possibly nothing at idle speed, causing it to die at idle but not kill the battery out on the road.
 
Battery tested good, alternators shot, hopefully its not a pain to put back on LOL
 
It is jack the car if you don't have a lift and do it from underneath. Easiest way I found to do it.
Yeah, i figured that out too, but now the car completely died on me while driving on the highway, now just keeps on cranking but no fire, even with cables hooked up
 
Yeah, i figured that out too, but now the car completely died on me while driving on the highway, now just keeps on cranking but no fire, even with cables hooked up
Stop driving the car if something this major is wrong with it! :ohdamn:
 
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