Yesterday I had posted about my coolan sensor coming on because it hasn't been on since yesterday so I think it was trippin or something.

I think my alternator is dead because when I turn the ignition, the marker was in red not up to full power. So I had someone to charge it and it only went to the halfway marker. My radio, power windows, lights all work. Do you think it's my alternator? I had no problems a couple of hours ago

 

So you're saying that with your car started (not just ignition flipped to the on position) and your engine running at idle, your voltimeter inside the car is registering less than 9V or whatever the battery puts out?

That would be the alternator I would think, but I would actually get a real voltmeter and directly tap the battery leads to verify that's the correct voltage reading.

Maybe I read the post wrong though!

 

Basically I'm trying to turn the car on because it doesn't come on. The marker for the battery is below the half mark hitting the red. Everything works radio, lights, windows....I was just driving my car around 5pm today and now it's not working. It has done this in the past where I would have to bring the key towards me and then turn it forward and it would start. Maybe that was a sign to me that my alternator was going out but I just didn't think too much of it when it was doing that

 

Well without taking your alternator to like autozone or pepboys to have them test it out, you'd need to have the engine running to see where the charge was at I would think.

Without the car started, the voltage you are seeing is just how much juice the battery has left and doesn't really help you with the alternator. Can you get the car jumped and see where the battery reads?

This could just be a dead battery if I'm hearing you right...

 

I tried jumping the car tonight...while the other car was running, the marker slowly move up to the halfway mark. Just a tab over the halfway mark and it stopped...the engine wasn't able to fire

 

I was reading in my chilton manual and it says the battery fluid might be low...made I need to buy some fluid from autozone and fill it up. Do you think that would work?

 

Also one thing I noticed is when I turn the key...all the warning lights would come on and the airbag light would flash about 7 times then shutoff. I don't know if that makes any difference

 

How old is the battery? The first thing to do is check all the connections, including the positive battery cluster on the fender and the the ground at the engine and the frame. When I say check them I mean take them off and shine them up real well before putting them back.

Have the battery checked professionally. Once you have a KNOWN good battery in the car. Start it up and measure the voltage across the battery while it is running. It should be well over 13 Volts if the alternator is good.

 

Yup, this is starting to sound like a simple battery issue.

 

Well I just got home from work and gonna work on this until it's resolved, hopefully before I go back to work on Monday. But since all of my lights, radio, power windows, etc. is still working...that should excluded the alternator problem because if it was the alternator, my headlights wouldn't be working correct? Also I know before when I turn the ignition on a few occasions it wouldn't start unless I fully turn the key back while still in the ignition and then turn it forward, it would fire up. Well anyways, I'm off to car work!

 

Battery is about two years old