Car keeps dying out. New battery. Alternator bad? Something else?

Question

Hello.

I have a 1990 Mitsubishi Galant. The light was left on. I was able to start up the car, drove for about 10 minutes, and it died out. I was able to jump start it and recharge battery from other car for about 5 minutes. Drove about 3 minutes and it died again. Next morning, took it to the repair shop where they recharged it, they said battery seemed fine and ran car for about an hour and didn't die out.  Repair shop said if it dies again, battery may be bad (cannot hold a charge). Seemed okay. Seemed fine, until I started driving it.

Died out about 30 minutes later. Took the battery back to Auto Zone and they replaced it with new one (it was under warranty). I was able to drive the car about an hour or more and it died again.

This is what seems to be happening: 
1.) Interior lights; dash, radio, etc. start to dim 
2.) Seems to dim mainly when stopped or breaking; brightens up when pressing gas
3.) When turned off, won't start back up unless jumped.
4.) There seems to be a clicking noise coming from near the glove box when I try to start.

Battery is now new so I'm  unsure if that's the problem. Could it be the alternator? Or something else.

Thanks! Advice is appreciated. :-)

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

You shold always test all of the charging system that way you know if the alternator or the battery is bad or even the starter. So your car gets electricity/power. But it dies. The battery provides the power before the car is running. Once the car is running it goes off of the alternator. Because you had the battery tested and it "passed" you should get the alternator tested. That will narrow it down to a few components. I doubt its a fuel problem. Sounds like a nice electrical issue. Im going to go with alternator.

crismond · Answer

This does no longer mean you've got a bad alternator, however as an alternative a good chance it can be both a slow drain short, or a bad battery. On some cars, despite what some say, rmoving one of the battery terminals and having the engine die, shouldn't be a true approach of checking the alternator, actually you could blow your voltage regulater, no longer all, but some. Best assess, get a voltage or multi meter with a d/c reading, hook up with battery and skim voltage, start the auto and read once more with auto or truck running, if voltage is greater, 12 to fifteen volts, then alternator is ok. If there's no increase in voltage between on and off, then it;s bad.

PoorGuysGarage · Answer

Sounds like the alternator.  An easy way to test it is to start the car then safely remove the positive terminal from the battery, if the car dies then that would indicate the car is running solely on the battery & the reason why the battery keeps becoming drained.

? · Answer

If light drained battery first. Having to charge a low battery may have may over worked the alternator.  Never disconnect cables while running. Sparks can explode the battery or surge can blow regulator or diodes in alternator. Electronics dont play well with sudden change and amps.

Anonymous · Answer

I advise you to find a competent garage. There they will test your charging system and in little more than 3 minutes isolate the fault. could very well be the alternator but all is a guess until it is tested by a competent shop.

lumpee · Answer

Did you replace the battery yourself? If so did you clean the terminal ends of the cables? I've had a few people with the same symtoms and cleaning the terminals and cables was the solution.

t w · Answer

Mine kept running after I unhooked the positive but as soon as I turned headlights on it died Does this indicate the alternator is weak? I had it tested at oreilys and it passed but I think it is weak. Any thoughts?

Clark S · Answer

It could be the alternator.   Autozone can test it.

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Car keeps dying out. New battery. Alternator bad? Something else?

8 Answers