battey or alternator?

[My President is Black]

well pretty much i left my interior lights on over night and it killed my battery so i jumped it and i was good to go it was back to normal drove around and figured that was that. Then later that day i drove to work no problems but by the time i got out of work my car was dead and i had to get a jump again. So i came home went to bed and the next morning went out to start it and it was dead so this time i jumped it and let it run for almost 3 hours to hopefully charge up the battery, so i did that then i drove for like 45 min to disney parked went back to my car a few hours later it started right up drove home blah blah blah then the next morning which would be this morning it was dead again i was like WTFFF, so i jumped it let it charge a bit but i don't want to have to get a jump everywhere i go how do i determine if i need a new battery or a new alternator or maybe neither im not sure but for the first couple weeks i drove it i never had any issues like this once so ever so it leads me to believe battery but im just pretty confused any and all inputs greatly appreciated thanks.

fun fact: i got bit by a wasp while working on my car today yay FML

[maxnix]

It could be both. One will damage the other. When was the battery replaced? OEM specs?

[My President is Black]

its a 93 but im not sure when the battery was replaced it was before i bought it and he didn't say, so i have no idea, but i mean if you left your stuff on over night would that just kill the battery i mean what could cause an alternator to suddenly go bad.

[qship96]

Put a brand new battery in it and have the alternator properly tested at the same time- batteries are short lived in Q, especially in hot climates like yours.....and discharging them more than a few times to the level that requires a jump start does them in permanently.

Alternators are not designed to recharge a deeply discharged battery.....it cooks the alternator

[My President is Black]

ah gotcha, ok ill run up and buy a new battery but how do you test the alternator? would someone like auto zone be able to do it or can i do it myself?

[qship96]

Have autozone do it- as it requires a load tester to complete the test

[maxnix]

Don't just measure voltage, but look at ripple on waveform output on a oscilloscope.

[My President is Black]

Don't just measure voltage, but look at ripple on waveform output on a oscilloscope.

what? lol.... where do i get one of those?

[maxnix]

Fry's, eBAy, etc. Of course you would have to know how to operate it.

[My President is Black]

well i just went up to auto zone and they tested it and said my alternator is fine and my starter in case i wanted to know lol. So i bought a 935 cca battery with a 2 year warranty im gonna be putting in later. So that was a lot of relief i was so scared of having to replace my alternator

funny note: i jumped my car off the new battery to get home

for some reason i found that amusing

[qship96]

Why didnt you just have the guys at Autozone install your new battery right there in their parking lot when you bought it? They do that free of charge and take your old junk one for recycling.

Good to hear about your alternator and starter!!!

[aces805]

Then later that day i drove to work no problems but by the time i got out of work my car was dead and i had to get a jump again. So i came home went to bed and the next morning went out to start it and it was dead so this time i jumped it and let it run for almost 3 hours to hopefully charge up the battery, so i did that then i drove for like 45 min to disney parked went back to my car a few hours later it started right up drove home blah blah blah then the next morning which would be this morning it was dead again i was like WTFFF, so i jumped it let it charge a bit but i don't want to have to get a jump everywhere i go how do i determine if i need a new battery or a new alternator or maybe neither im not sure but for the first couple weeks i drove it i never had any issues like this once so ever so it leads me to believe battery but im just pretty confused any and all inputs greatly appreciated thanks.

Do you hate using periods?

[My President is Black]

Why didnt you just have the guys at Autozone install your new battery right there in their parking lot when you bought it? They do that free of charge and take your old junk one for recycling.

Good to hear about your alternator and starter!!!

yeah i was happy to hear that, but they said they wouldn't do it cause i need to change the terminals because the battery that was in there had threaded posts and none of there's are threaded. So i got little adapter pieces for them and i don't mind doing it myself. They also just told me to bring my old battery back when i switch it and they'll refund the core charge of like $12 so it works out.

[My President is Black]

Do you hate using periods?

i was in a hurry and tired and had just got stung by a wasp.

don't hate

[NightRiderQ45]

i was in a hurry and tired and had just got stung by a wasp.

don't hate

Yeah, I could've told you it was the battery. I had the same issue a month ago when I was out of town for vacation. You should've purchased your battery at Wally World especially for the cost of the cca. I have a 5yr warranty from Wal-Mart.

[Q45tech]

Having owned the same Q for 19.5 years, I have had to adjust to the FACT that every brand of battery I've selected [purchased 6] has been done by 3 years of use*, whether the Q was domiciled in Tampa or Atlanta or spent half it's hours in North Carolina.

What is scarey is that usually to the MONTH [June - July] it gets replaced.

Same with shocks except that May and 4 years are the units life.

With both the sudden heat seems to be correlative.

In each of the 3 years the mileage varied dramactically some as low as 30,000 miles some as high as 100,000 miles but all in all the number of daily cranks was roughly equal. Usually less than 10.

So <10,000 cranks and the battery was done.

[NightRiderQ45]

Having owned the same Q for 19.5 years, I have had to adjust to the FACT that every brand of battery I've selected [purchased 6] has been done by 3 years of use*, whether the Q was domiciled in Tampa or Atlanta or spent half it's hours in North Carolina.

What is scarey is that usually to the MONTH [June - July] it gets replaced.

Same with shocks except that May and 4 years are the units life.

With both the sudden heat seems to be correlative.

In each of the 3 years the mileage varied dramactically some as low as 30,000 miles some as high as 100,000 miles but all in all the number of daily cranks was roughly equal. Usually less than 10.

So <10,000 cranks and the battery was done.

That's true. I purchased my last battery 12/05 and it died 5/09...so it lasted a little over 3yrs. I wish that you could get early signs if you needed the battery...hell I didn't find out I need one until I was unloading my luggage at the hotel on my vacation!!!

[qship96]

Early signs of dying battery are detected in your periodic battery load test performed during your quarterly preventative maintenance routine{oil/filter/inspections}.....probably not necessary to begin the battery load tests quarterly until the 24th month the battery has been in use?

[OnTheRoadAgain]

re: 91 Q45

my battery just went dead 3 YEARS TO THE MONTH too!

but I have another problem too:

I thought the car cracked a little more slowly this past week, but it was hard to tell since it starts so quickly... I thought I would go and have it checked..... alternator is about 2 years old... battery was 3 yrs old, terminals cleaned regularly etc.

so, today wouldn't start; put the charger on the battery for 2 hrs... still no start, no click nothing; headlites did not even dim on "start" position.

odd, windows didn't work either, radio didn't work (I though battery was shorted)

installed new battery, same thing.

found 30amp ignition fuse blown (in engine compartment next to battery) ; swapped with another and blew again on "start" position;installed another, and now windows work if in "on" position, I'm sure will blow fuse again, if turned to "start".

so, starter? or ingition switch?

also, the gearsgift wouldn't come out of park easily either, I had to press "release" button (so to wiggle like for neutral safety switch), and maybe I'm imagining now, but the brake pedal seems harder (you must depress brake pedal to move gearshift)

what do you think, I have to rent a car tomorrow looks like, and I'm out of fuses tonite.

(91 Q45)

[Kiven422]

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!

CLean your battery terminals WELL! It makes a dead battery work like a non-dead one.