Ok so lots of fun stuff goin on w/ my car...

First off my battery will not hold charge at all for some unexpected reason. My car sat for about 3 weeks without a start. Battery dead, replaced started right up. I replaced the alternator last year and according to the voltmeter in the dash is fine (runs around 14 volts...).

Weird fuel gauge...(just curious) On a full tank the gauge reads way past full and doesn't drop for... a while...

Fixing passenger side door possibilities? So my car was broken into once and I think they used a slide hammer somehow on the keyhole. Key hole still works just looks torn up. And the door is coming apart at the seam (I'll post pics tom.)

Whining sound when driving... It's been there forever and I've been told it's normal, just wondering how it comes about...

How do I adjust the speedometer to correct for my 3.73 rear gears? (I've gotten 2 tickets for this little inconvenience) And I'm assuming this affects the odometer as well?

Thanks in advance for any info...

 

If the battery was old and died it might be done. Have it checked at an auto parts store. Mine stays full for about 60 miles and 1/4 tank is 20 miles if im lucky. Door coming apart is common and just need repaired. Mine was glued and then painted with the car. Car should not wine unless you have a supercharger. A tune will fix the gears or get a Hypertech programer.

 

I agree, have the battery checked at a parts store. If it sat and drained down, that can damage it.

As for the fuel gauge, it is pretty common for them not to read completely accurate due to the design of the fuel tank.

As for the door, if it is splitting at the seam, I would take it to the body shop and see if they can repair it.

As for the whining sound, you may have a bad accessory such as the power steering pump, or a belt or belt tensioner that is making the noise.

As for the gears, you have to have the PCM tuned in order for the speedo to read accurate. This can be done through a mail order tune, a speed shop that has LT1 tuning software, or the Hypertech programmer.

 

First thanks for the responses, happy to hear that it "may" be a simple fix for my door, and fuel gauges are tarded... but like I said I also replaced the battery after it sat and drained... also I should have gone into it more about the whine. It's not an accessory deducing that it doesn't whine when I rev in neutral. Doesn't whine while the clutch is pressed in. Gets more predominant(higher in pitch) when accelerating with normal driving. I've also heard my buddy's 2002 Firehawk make the same whine sound... Both of our cars are M6... and it's a much lower whine heard mostly inside the car making me think something w/ driveline (I know what a SC sounds like WAY different...)

 

Just because the alternator is putting out 14 volts doesn't mean it's good, IIRC it should put out upwards of 100 amps (maybe 105, maybe 125) not really sure. Put a full charge on the battery and take it to a parts store, they can test the battery and alternator.

 

The alternator's been putting a good steady charge to any battery that's been in the car. Especially compared to the old one only putting out about less than 12 before it died. Until now the alternator has kept the battery charged well enough to start the next day. Can alternators die after sitting for a few weeks? Also how long does it take to put a full charge on a battery? (running after jump)

 

Alternators could go out in a flash, I'd imagine. Usually they don't just up and die, they slowly just put out less and less amperage (from what I've seen.) I've tested quite a few alternators at work and that's normally the case. It could be that sitting over the weeks it dropped from a usable amperage to one that's inadequate.


To charge the battery yourself, I'd do it over night on a 2 amp trickle charger. You can charge them at like 35 amps in less time if you have a strong enough charger. Otherwise, auto parts stores can put them on the big charger and it takes anywhere from 15-60 minutes usually. I'd drive the car to a parts store and have a friend follow you. Pull the battery and have them charge it, come back in an hour and put it back in and have them test the alternator and battery on the car.