So the car i drive for work.....an old ford explorer's, thing's got 83k miles on it already.....anyhow, sometimes the battery light on the dashboard is lit.....i chalk that up to me having my gps connects when the engines not on..........that being, said i've never had a problem starting it.........then today as i brake at a stop sign..........the car just shuts down and the alternator light is lit, at least i think it was
so i just turned the key to turn the engine off (even though it was already off) and then turned the enging back on and everything was back to normal.
my question is, did that happen partially cuz i braked and the car was coming to a standstill or could that have happened at any time?? and is there anything else besides the battery that could be the cause of the shutdown? thanks for any info guys.
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Car Battery Question had a little problem
#2
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Posted 04 August 2008 - 11:33 AM
is that the original battery?? how old is the car? battery and possilby faulty alternator would be my guess.
#3
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Posted 04 August 2008 - 10:05 PM
at first it sounds like a battery or alternator issue... but the fact that you were able to restart it makes me believe otherwise..
if it was your alternator... you battery would've been dead because a car can't run very long on just a battery alone... the other obvious reason is that because a dead battery is what the name suggests: "dead" you would not have been able to restart the vehicle and drive away.
easiest way to gauge the condition of the alternator and battery is to take a voltmeter(or digital multi-meter) and simply measure voltage at the battery terminals in 2 conditions...
1) engine off, all lights(interior and exterior) turned off. take the reading and take note of it.. it should be at least 12.5v
) start up engine, turn on all accesories(a/c, stereo, interior lights) then check the voltage reading.. it should NEVER be below 12.5v or over 15.0v
not sure about your engine; but you should check out the idle control system on the engine... if your engine uses a BAC(bypass air control) valve you might want to look a bit more into that. i've removed the BAC from my car, and sometimes it will shut down if the engine is cold and i slow to a stop because there's nothing helping the engine stabilize the revs as it decelerates in neutral.
check your owners manual.. or get yourself a service manual.
if it was your alternator... you battery would've been dead because a car can't run very long on just a battery alone... the other obvious reason is that because a dead battery is what the name suggests: "dead" you would not have been able to restart the vehicle and drive away.
easiest way to gauge the condition of the alternator and battery is to take a voltmeter(or digital multi-meter) and simply measure voltage at the battery terminals in 2 conditions...
1) engine off, all lights(interior and exterior) turned off. take the reading and take note of it.. it should be at least 12.5v
) start up engine, turn on all accesories(a/c, stereo, interior lights) then check the voltage reading.. it should NEVER be below 12.5v or over 15.0v
not sure about your engine; but you should check out the idle control system on the engine... if your engine uses a BAC(bypass air control) valve you might want to look a bit more into that. i've removed the BAC from my car, and sometimes it will shut down if the engine is cold and i slow to a stop because there's nothing helping the engine stabilize the revs as it decelerates in neutral.
check your owners manual.. or get yourself a service manual.
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