Battery problems

[Rick Delorme]

Hi Group,

I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car (2001 SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I thought my battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along. As soon as I would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get going. I was told that if this was an alternator problem, the car would die off to the side of the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery thinking that is what I will need to get the most years out of the battery. A month later, my car just died again. I am guessing that there is something that is sucking the life out of my battery gradually over time.

Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that would be covered by the warranty?

Thanks in Advance for any tips.

Rick.

 

[blah blah]

Hi Group,

I am ignorant about cars for the most part. About a month ago, my car (2001 SL) would not start, would not even click when turning the key. I thought my battery was toast, I was able to boost the car and drive along. As soon as I would turn the car off, it would need a boost again to get going. I was told that if this was an alternator problem, the car would die off to the side of the road. So, I bought a new kick-butt $100 battery thinking that is what I will need to get the most years out of the battery. A month later, my car just died again. I am guessing that there is something that is sucking the life out of my battery gradually over time.

Does anyone know of anything I can do to trouble shoot this. And, I still have extended warranty on the car, so does this sound like something that would be covered by the warranty?

Thanks in Advance for any tips.

Rick.

You can try a "parasitic draw test" and test your alternator. You can probably find good descriptive web pages on how to do those test yourself by searching google. If not let us know. Some of us here really like to type howto's sometimes.

 

[Rick Delorme]

Hi,

thanks for your reply. My searches on google are coming up empty for good specify instructions. Do you have any links you can point me to. What if any tools will be required to accomplish this? I'm not estranged from doing this type of work, just never worked on cars in my life. A good set of instructions and I should be able to accomplish this feat!

Thanks
Rick.

 

[Art (archive)]

THe battery itself is sometimes not covered by an extended warranty (though Ford might on their cars) but a short or bad alternator would be. A slipping belt which would prevent the alternator from charging would probably not be.

 

[Art (archive)]

Also, if the extended warranty is not from Saturn or a reputable company, it was probably a waste of money.