Alright, so the car just dies in the middle of the highway twice. have it towed home, tried starting when it got off the tow truck, starter just clicked.

Jacked it up, starter looks fine, fuses are good, motor is not seized.

Then we jumped the battery with my dad's truck, and the car fired right off, however it did take awhile, cause i think the lt1 starter is starting to take a ****, but i have an lt4 on the way!


Took the alternator and battery to autozone, both tested out as good? Any ideas on what may really be bad?

Thanks a ton!!!!

 

Battery, starter, poor connection... Stuff that won't stay broke is hard to find and fix.

 

so confusing.......b/c if its a bad battery, how come the alternator didnt supply the voltage needed, and if its the alternator, teh battery should be able to run it for a bit. sounds more like the alternator, but then why did the battery need a jump? damnit lol


shoebox, just for reference, how much does an alternator cost average?

 

Rob, is it pretty safe to say its not ignition/fuel problem since i car is obviously getting them if it will start? its an electrical system prob?

 

I have not priced alternators. I just look at online parts places (NAPA, Advance, AZ...) to get ideas of cost.

A bad battery can kill an alt and a bad alt can kill a battery. Sometimes it is hard to tell which one is at fault unless you catch it early. That is why a lot of people end up having to replace both-maybe not right away, but one after the other.

 

Ignition/fuel is not going to make the starter "click".

 

100-200 bucks....great.

any idea on what i should try first?

 

You said you had a starter on the way, I would try that first. Don't go off buying more stuff that has not been proven broken.

Once your car is started it should be easy to tell with a meter if the alternator is putting out good voltage (~13.5v would be fairly normal). If the battery has a bad cell, it could influence the alt voltage. Your battery should read ~12v when the engine is not on and has been sitting for a little while.

 

im not gonna just go buying stuff, dont worry hehe, no money

i put a multimeter on the batt an hour or 2 after it was home, and it read like 12.5v. I'll check the alt tomorrow.

I do have the LT4 starter on the way, so i'll have to try that

 

Sometimes the battery can read good voltage and not have any reserve power when you put a load on it. That is why you have them load tested...but you said you already did that. Maybe it is ok, if the test was done accurately.

 

well he tested both down to the fine instructions. alternator gave 15 volts, right in teh middle of their acceptable rang of 14-16.

battery was hooked up, he typed in 650 cca and it put it under the load, voltage dropped to like 11.5 or so, then it cam back up once the load was removed and the test was performed again.


ugggghhh

 

I had the same problem when i got my car out of storage this spring. the AC Delco battery was leaking from the positive post. took it to the local auto parts store, and bought a Interstate Mega-Tron same size. But the guy at the store put the load tester on the bad battery it still read 11-10 volts. My advice is to hook up a charger to the battery if it doesent take much of a charge, try to start the car, if it still wont start then it's the battery and not the alternator.

 

That makes me feel better! I charged the battery all last night so we'll have to drop it in the car and see what she does!

Thanks LT1 FUN

 

weee running good now! Charged the battery, put the lt4 starter in and cranked her off, started almost instantly!

I think I'm gonna go buy a new battery for safety

Alternator was putting out 14.5V at idle

Thanks guys!


BTW, LT4 Starter OWNS the LT1 starter

 

also, what brand of battery that autozone or advance or checker carry that you guys find works well and last long?