Hey guys I'm in need Of some advice. I was driving my car and noticed that the steering became hard. Next thing you know the lights started flickering, inside and out. A few seconds later and the whole car died while I was driving. I did some research and came to the conclusion that it may have been a bad alternator (130K miles). I changed the alternator and the battery and it fired right up no problem. I drove home and to the movies without any issues. I went to get food and the same thing happened. The first sign that showed up on the dashboard was check VSC, then the steering became hard and the whole car shut down mid drive. Tried to start it again but it was dead. I Could barely roll up my windows. Has anyone had this problem before. I have no idea at this point. Less that 30 miles on the alternator and battery. Please help!

 

The symptoms in both scenarios are exactly the same. And I agree the issue is your alternator. Unfortunately the replacement ALT might be no good as well OR it might not be hooked up correctly OR the ALT fuse might be blown and not allowing it to be working correctly. Remember, the battery is used to start the car and run accessories when off, and the ALT is used to run all of the functions of the car while running. A bad ALT can drain a good battery in no time.

Good luck!

 

The alternator was fairly easy to replace. I'm sure t was installed correctly. I checked the alt fuse when we did the replacement and it was good. I havent check anything today because it was raining and I just needed to take a break from it. I'll check the fuses again after work and go from there. Thanks for the insight.

 

That's odd. I had the same thing happen to me. Replaced the alternator and all is fine. Have you ran the codes on the car?

 

my check engine light never came on and the check VSC light only showed initially on the display and went away. My battery has been dead and I've yet to go out and troubleshoot again. I will check today. I will let you know what I find.

 

Definitely try to see if any codes pop up. If you find any, google it or search it on this section of the forum, along with the symptons. Chances are, someone may have dealt with it or something similar

 

I had the alt tested and the message that the machine read was failed voltage regulator. From what I've read online the voltage regulator is built into the alternator. However, the reps at oreilly says that the regulator is in the CPU or in the car not on the alternator

 

When checking a voltmeter can be real handy. Pretty cheap for a low voltage one nowadays.
When running approx 14volts.dc.
Engine off about 13v

 

After testing continuity on all fuses and wires. I'm sure it's a faulty alternator. Testing the voltage only 11.6 is reading which is straight battery voltage. I'm going to check the connectors one more time around the alternator before replacing it.

 

The last time I started the vehicle the check engine light came on. I ran a test and the 2 codes that were showing were P0101 and P0102. Has anyone has any similar issues or advice ? Thanks in advance.

 

Depending on how old that battery is and the fact that the alternator discharged it the battery can be completely dead and might not come back even with a good alternator. It very well could be a new alternator that was bad from the manufacturer like others have said. If you have another 12v battery I might try putting that in 1st.

 

same thing is goin on with my wifes car...we think its an alternator too...but her car hasn't shut off.

is your rear view cam or AC blowing cold by chance?

 

no sir. I'm afraid to turn anything on that can possibly drain the battery any faster. I'm leaning towards realizing that I bought a bad re-manufactured alternator. I'm confused now because my check engine light is in and the codes are completely random. Something with high and low airflow. I feel like the CPU being reset so many times is throwing the system off.

 

Low voltages do strange things with codes etc. Can only be certain when volateges at proper levels.
1. Charge battery or replace/borrow charged one. Start car and monitor voltages.
2. If no good at alt then alt fault find again.

 

This sounds like the classic MAIN Fuse block failing. Search for it. My brother in law had the same symptoms...root cause, failed main fuse block. It has to be replaced and it is easy and not so expensive. Check out posts. Good luck.