How to run car without Alternator?

[Generation1JeY]

Ok my alternator is completely dead. I ordered one, but it will take a little while to get here cause i dont feel like paying 150 bucks to autozone for theirs.

I'm wondering is there a way to just charge the battery everytime i dont drive it so that i have enough juice to just drive around a little bit? Do car batteries die when u leave them sitting? Cause all i will do is drive my car to school in the morning, have it sit in the parking lot for 7 hours, and then drive it home and start charging it again.

Is that possible to do?

If it is what would i use to charge it? is it something i would buy at radioshack or something?

any help appreciated, thx

-Jordan

 

[midnght]

I don't think there is a way to do what you are asking. When your alterantor died the first time how long did it take for your car to NOT start?


The money you would spend on a charger and time involved you should just go with one of the autozone alternators.

 

[mavisky]

time to just pay the man or wait it out, that's really your onlt option, you'd be lucky to make it more than a couple of blocks with the lights and stuff running.

 

[PaleDSM]

On a good charge it would start but like Mavisky said you probably wouldn't make it too far with all of the accessory draw from lights and other things.

 

[Gary 420A RS]

dude you can charge the battery and charge it again all its going to do is drain your battery faster than you can charge it.... go to shoes for less and find some running/walking shoes and rough it out....

 

[Generation1JeY]

frickin balls, i hate when my car doesnt work

 

[IHeartTurbo]

Do car batteries die when u leave them sitting?

No, not just from sitting. If the battery is old and dirty there can be continuity on the outside of the battery and if you set it on something that can ground it, that will cause it to die. If your battery is clean it won't tho.

 

[paranoidTSi]

You can charge the battery, it'll hold a charge for a little while (at least optima red top batteries) because I did this when the alternator was dead in my car and it ran for a good hour or so, the headlights drain the hell out of the battery though.

 

[psychlow]

If batteries sit for a very long time, they can discharge when all of the material inside has chemically reacted. They can also not work if they electrolyte/water inside them has evaporated.

 

[IHeartTurbo]

True, but that takes a very long time like you said. Much more time then he is going to be waiting for his alternator. Surface discharge would be more likely.

 

[steve]

I was pretty sure you had an electrical problem from what you described.
How did the alternator fail? Have you checked to see if it is just the brushes?

Steve

 

[90LaZeRrst]

its probably your fault the alternator went out. And it doesnt JUST happen. You can see something like that coming from the way your lights work.. the way your audio sounds when you have other things running.. just ne thing in general.. coulda found a better time if you just got it doen at a more convenient time while it was still moving. Or better yet, do it yourself. It takes a couple hours max.

 

[bhop]

There is NO WAY you're going to make it in San Diego traffic with no alternator. Just not gonna happen. Take the bus or something.

 

[Generation1JeY]

its probably your fault the alternator went out. And it doesnt JUST happen. You can see something like that coming from the way your lights work.. the way your audio sounds when you have other things running.. just ne thing in general.. coulda found a better time if you just got it doen at a more convenient time while it was still moving. Or better yet, do it yourself. It takes a couple hours max.

i've only had my car for a few months buddy and i dont have a stereo in my car right now so take ur bright ideas somewhere else that has nothing to do with what i'm asking. I dont want u to tell me why my alternator is messed up and how much of it is my fault, i cant drive my baby right now, and i'm really pissed about it that i have to get a ride to school from my mother, so leave it alone i'm on the edge dude. i was simply asking if a car can run for a little while without an alternator and be charged religously after every drive. After reading all the posts i see now its not gonna work out so ill just have to wait till the new alt comes . I appreciate everyones help though. Ya steve even though its the alternator the ecu is still scarin the hell outta me i'll need to get that checked out as soon as i possibly can so i dont loose that and have to buy a new one also.

 

[steve]

Ya steve even though its the alternator the ecu is still scarin the hell outta me i'll need to get that checked out as soon as i possibly can so i dont loose that and have to buy a new one also.

You should try and get it fixed while the car is down so you don't have additional downtime.

Unless you had to send you old alternator in as a core, look in the phone book for a local auto electrics shop and take the old one in for a checkout and rebuild so you have a spare.

I don't replace an alternator unless the regulator is shot, I just open them up and change the brushes and bearings if needed. If the regulator is shot I get another from the junk yard and change it's brushes. If the diodes are bad I swap them out.

Steve

 

[IamCool]

go to the junk yard and find one for cheap...just my $.02

 

[Generation1JeY]

nah i already ordered it i'll just wait till it comes, until then i'll work on cleaning up my engine bay to make it nice and sparkly .

But ya its really gonna suck when i have to take the ecu to get it fixed cause the car will be down again, i guess i'll make sure i have another car to drive while its down

 

[SpoolinGSXtacy]

yeah take their word for it man, your not gonna keep a shits worth of charge with a dead alternator, mine blew and i just put off puttin a new one in, i got ####ed in the end. i tried driving it to my buddies cuz he said he would do it for like $5(didnt feel like doin it) but it died in the middle of a busy ass intersection. So i just did it, and they give you a free $55 rebate for the old core. its a good deal.

 

[steveVR4]

I wouldn't recommend just 'recharging' every night, and driving around with a bad alt, but you CAN make it quite far on the battery alone. Everyone is saying you'd be lucky to make it a few blocks, but I made it about 30-40 miles on my battery when the alternator was dead.

 

[hkdl]

When my alt went I had a good mechanic about 35 miles away, I went to autozone and had them fully charge my battery and drove it up there, I just made sure I kept everything off, I didn't even use turn signals(pissed off plenty of people but they got over it).

 

[Thomas91169]

i got about 5 miles with subs blasting when mine died at the track(which is 2 hours from home) and was able to get to a well known gas station to wait for tow. sucks though cause you can feel it die slowly. lights dimmed, so i turned off the radio, then gauges started to dim, then headlights were useless, so i turned them off and ran just parking lights and used the ebrake to stop so the taillights didnt come on. by the time i pulled into the gas station i couldnt rev over 1000rpm.

 

[steveVR4]

Happened to me in the rain and I HAD to run my wipers and lights... the wipers were going SO slow by the time I got home.