Hey Everyone,

A few weeks ago my 96 Protege wouldn't start. We had the battery tested, and it was determined that it went bad. Got a jump, had the battery replaced, and it seemed to be running fine. The next day, the same thing happened. My husband tested it, started it up, and the car started running again, infrequently though. I called my mechanic, and he said that it might be an issue of the computer needing to synch with the new battery. We gave it a few test drives, and it seemed to be running alright, until this past Friday. Now, it won't start at all. The only signs of life were the beeping sound when I put the key in the ignition. Also, my dome light came on, but quickly went out. That was it. I'm thinking it might be the alternator. Has anyone had this happen before? Any insights are appreciated!

Heather

 

When looking for problems always start from your source and work your way in for example on your car you cchanged the battery but it could still be the problem what I would do is test the battery with a meter with the car off you should get about 12.4 volts if its less than that charge the battery and try again. If thats not the problem start your car with the car running you should get 14-14.7 on the battery if so your alternator is fine if not check your alternator check the wire harness going into the alternstor for corosion if not take an amp clamp hook it to the positive wire on your battery see what it reads the number it should read google it I'm not sure what it should say on your car. If you are not getting the right amperage replace alternator if the amp is right and with car running you get 14.7 volts alternator is not the problem and you should start checking fuses hell if anything check fuses first if your alternator reads like 13.7 volts its fine but if its in the 12-13.4 replace alternator. Or you could take it to a.mechanic do a load test half the time they will do it for free that machine says exactly what the problem is. Bad batteries are common on a car I eorked on we replaced the battery 4 times before we got a good one.

 

Check your battery cables and terminal, especially the negative side. I had to replace the last foot and connector to the battery using a $10 splice kit in the same section of the auto parts store as replacement cables. Corrosion crawls down the inside of the cable, essentially turning it to rust.
I've had to do this on 4 different older cars in the last year, model years 1986, 1993, 2001 and 2002.

 

Thanks darkstar and vw! I appreciate the information!