big problem

[DoctorPhate]

Well i bought my jeep and registered it today. Everything worked every time I went to look at the thing. but today as I was driving to work(I work 3pm - 11:30pm) I noticed my stereo didnt work. this is maybe an hour after registering it.

I was thinking about it and I started to worry that when I left work at 11:30 the lights wouldn't work either because when I was driving there my blinkers didn't work. And ofcourse when I left work my lights didn't work. So i figured best bet is to take the...

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[blair_b]

...ouch. I would guess alternator, but testing it would be your best bet before you start replacing stuff. If it is the alternator I might have one, but it's from an 89'... anyone know if it's the same? I'm pretty sure it's good up to at least 96', but after that I couldn't say for sure. Where/when do you work?

 

[Baja]

Alternator, radio is always the first to go when battery is dieing, then lights. But Im with Blair, test it first.

 

[Louis]

I'm guessing alternator, the person you bought it from knew about it and had the battery charged up full just before you picked it up.

Go back to them.

Louis

 

[woodendude]

I would also say Alternator, had mine go last winter and the symptoms you're suffering are the same.

 

[DoctorPhate]

I doubt the guy was trying to pull a fast one on me. He let me pay in two payments. I still owe him money for it and he footed the bill for the safety and etest for me. Hes a good guy and i know him personally.

Would you be able to come by with the alternator and help me install it sometime this morning? I dunno how much you want for it but a new one is 183$ and I only have about 90$ until payday tomorrow. Still need to pay hydro too.

 

[Farm Boy]

If you still owe him $$ for it, you're lucky. Hold off paying him and deduct whatever it cost you to get it fixed properly. He knew it was a problem.

 

[DoctorPhate]

I don't think he did, because when I talked to him on the phone about the stereo problem he seemed as puzzled as me. But I'm already deducting the cost of the window that a bunch of kids broke and hes fine with that.

He may even front the cost for an alternator if I ask him. We'll see.

 

[DoctorPhate]

I posted on another board(NAXJA) and they also said the best thing is to clean the terminals, boost it and let the battery charge.

Anyone in my area(downtown) able to come by with sand paper and jumper cables? I have jumper cables but they aren't great quality

 

[DoctorPhate]

I got sand paper and I can clean the terminals but nobody will boost me.

 

[Kunker]

Food for thought - if you're planning on keeping the Jeep for a while, you might want to save some coin for a new alt with a lifetime warrenty. Saves you some $$$ down the road. You can also clean up the terminals (somewhat) with water, baking soda and a toothbrush.

 

[DoctorPhate]

yeah. I do things right the first time so thats the plan. However. I still need a boost.

 

[DoctorPhate]

yeah but some people suggested that it may just be a case of bad connections on the battery. Same thing happened to me with my old Neon.

 

[Dirk]

buy a battery charger......

 

[Baja]

When you do get it runnning before you go anywhere take a multimeter and check the voltage across your battery, if the alt. is working should be somewhere around 14. If you dont have a meter, get it running and take the pos. cable off, if it stalls, alt is no good.
Usually a bad connection wont drain a battery like that.

 

[Kunker]

Hmmm....didn't know the +ve cable trick, that's pretty neat.

 

[DoctorPhate]

Nice trick with the + cable..

So i have a buddy here at work who's going to drive me home and help me out with a boost when we get there. Its going to be a pain in the ass at midnight but atleast ill be good to go for tomorrow.

 

[blair_b]

Sorry man, just got your message- I wasn't anywhere near you today... maybe tomorrow. I'll give you a call if I'm slow at work. Hope you made a go of it.

 

[DoctorPhate]

Well a buddy is helping me when i get home from work at midnight. We shall see if its the alternator tonight. If I do the pull the positive wire off test and she passes ill drive it for an hour with the cables put on nice and tight and clean and hopefully in the morning I'll be good to go. Ill update you guys tonight

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

[Mlorint]

If it was a bad connection your acessories would all work but it would not start. Boosting it will only get you maybe 10min of driving, and using the alternator to charge a dead battery is very hard on them. Use a battery charger overnight.