vannyfresh

Apologize in advance for the slightly lengthy post. Ok so I have 2006 model (85k miles and purchased a year ago) and couple weeks ago, I started my car and the navigation kept turning off and on and the electronics such as battery signal and VSC light would turn off and on as well so I pulled over and was freaking out. I turned off my car and turned it on again and everything was back to normal. Then couple days later, my car just randomly didn't start. The dash electronic lights were faded and nothing turned on basically. So I thought it was the battery and got a jump from my sister. However, it didn't work so I called insurance and they sent in road service. Road service came and jumped me from their huge diesel like battery and my car started. However, on my way to buy a new battery my electronics were acting up again and my steering wheel was stiff. I bought a new battery and put it in and nothing worked. I thought **** maybe its my alternator. Tested the old battery and autozone said it was still good actually. Put back old battery back in and jumped my car again and it worked. So I bought an alternator online and waited for it to arrive. However, week later my car has been driving fine since then. No electronics flashing and car starts normal so I'm confused. I thought once alternator is bad that I basically can't drive it for that long but its been a week and no problems. Does this mean I still have to replace my alternator or is there another issue I should be dealing with?

panda08

iTrader: (1)

test your alternator. should put out about 14 volts when the car is running/ lights on.

vannyfresh

my family mechanic tested it out and it read about 13.25 to 13.5 on his diagnostic tool and he said yep its the alternator. I'm just surprised at the fact that after a week the alternator has been fine. I was just under the assumption that once the alternator went bad it wouldn't be able to last another couple of days or such. Thanks for reply as well! Been anxious to hear some feedback.

USNsaint71

Sounds like an alternator issue, but could have been a loose terminal that got fixed when your battery got swapped...

-USNsaint71

vannyfresh

yes possibly. Thanks for the feedback.

whitebeast

iTrader: (5)

same thing happen to my car when alternator being bad. Replace it and everything is fine. I bought my alternator from O'reilly and install it myself.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Sounds like when swapping out the batteries you might have help fix a wiring/wiring corrosion issue involving the terminals or battery leads. Since you have had the old batter in there and running fine, have you had the electrical system re-checked?

vannyfresh

I had it checked when I put back in the old battery and our mechanic said the alternator was most likely the issue. I'm probably going to replace the alternator with the new one and have the old one tested at autozone.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Keep us udated on the fix.