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August 17th, 2018, 9:21 AM
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Hello all. My wife has had a 2004 Cavalier for around 11 years now and thankfully other than the normal car stuff I haven't really had to post. I'd like to get some opinions if anyone out there has any thoughts. Here's a quick synopsis...
2004 2.2 EcoTech...Battery dies while my wife is driving car around town. I place a new battery in problem solved (thinking to myself wonder how much shes been straining the alternator) .....Knowing that the alternator could be next, a few months later she calls with the car won't start again. I drive over and pull the battery (new battery was now dead, place it on the charger hoping it will hold) pull the alt and have it tested, alt it bad. I replace the alt with a new (not refurbished, but new) alt and reinstall the existing (one month old) battery which seems to have held it's charge. She drives the car and all is well for 2 months. Yesterday she calls with car won't start. I go to her to realize battery is dead (jumped and its started, but view cube was clear not green). I get the car home and think okay maybe last month killing the battery just shot it (even though for the last month it had worked fine). Pull the battery and have it tested and its shot. I replaced the battery once again. Okay new battery and new alt now. Well she just called saying that it died 4 times on her way to her office (which is about 6 miles from our house), I'm at wits end. She did mention it seemed like the ac was acting funny going in and out from cool to cold and kind of surging if you will. Any ideas guys? I guess I'll start with driving it over and having the alternator tested while its on the car. I'm at wits end.
2004 2.2 EcoTech...Battery dies while my wife is driving car around town. I place a new battery in problem solved (thinking to myself wonder how much shes been straining the alternator) .....Knowing that the alternator could be next, a few months later she calls with the car won't start again. I drive over and pull the battery (new battery was now dead, place it on the charger hoping it will hold) pull the alt and have it tested, alt it bad. I replace the alt with a new (not refurbished, but new) alt and reinstall the existing (one month old) battery which seems to have held it's charge. She drives the car and all is well for 2 months. Yesterday she calls with car won't start. I go to her to realize battery is dead (jumped and its started, but view cube was clear not green). I get the car home and think okay maybe last month killing the battery just shot it (even though for the last month it had worked fine). Pull the battery and have it tested and its shot. I replaced the battery once again. Okay new battery and new alt now. Well she just called saying that it died 4 times on her way to her office (which is about 6 miles from our house), I'm at wits end. She did mention it seemed like the ac was acting funny going in and out from cool to cold and kind of surging if you will. Any ideas guys? I guess I'll start with driving it over and having the alternator tested while its on the car. I'm at wits end.
August 17th, 2018, 10:18 AM
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Will do. I know the posts at the battery are great, I addressed them but like an idiot I didn't even think to take it further. I'm about to go swap her cars and leave her mine. I'll start with this tip. Thanks.
August 21st, 2018, 1:01 PM
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Checked the battery cable grounds and all seemed well. The ground going from the battery to the battery tray is fine, the split onto the other one at the block seems good. The car has ran perfect for two days.......then......Ok, driving along and noticed that the ac seems to quit blowing cold (kind of going in and out actually randomly). Once I get to the office I shut the car off and pop the hood to see if I happen to notice anything. I go to start the car and it acts like it doesn't want to turn over. The battery is good (still new and green in the view cube). After waiting a few mins and trying a few more times the car fires up and the ac seems to be blowing fine. I'm not sure as to what is really going on here as this isn't my specialty. I'm assuming maybe some sort of relay possibly? How can the car go from running just fine to literally not wanting to start or barely turn over. It wasn't like a crank crank crank no start, it's like a dead battery barely turn over, don't want to crank at all start. basically just turned over enough to start. Any ideas anyone?
August 21st, 2018, 3:38 PM
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Checked the battery cable grounds and all seemed well. The ground going from the battery to the battery tray is fine, the split onto the other one at the block seems good. The car has ran perfect for two days.......then......Ok, driving along and noticed that the ac seems to quit blowing cold (kind of going in and out actually randomly). Once I get to the office I shut the car off and pop the hood to see if I happen to notice anything. I go to start the car and it acts like it doesn't want to turn over. The battery is good (still new and green in the view cube). After waiting a few mins and trying a few more times the car fires up and the ac seems to be blowing fine. I'm not sure as to what is really going on here as this isn't my specialty. I'm assuming maybe some sort of relay possibly? How can the car go from running just fine to literally not wanting to start or barely turn over. It wasn't like a crank crank crank no start, it's like a dead battery barely turn over, don't want to crank at all start. basically just turned over enough to start. Any ideas anyone?
September 6th, 2018, 5:22 PM
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Well let me update my situation. sorry I went to the beach for two weeks to cool off. LOL....
Okay so I replaced the battery and the alt as described above. Then I replaced the alternator and battery again.....yeah you read that correct.
After doing all of this I just tell myself I swear I think I've bought a bunked alternator from Autozone. After returning from the beach I jump the car and drive it to Autozone. They test it and say the alternator is bad (yeah the one I just put on two weeks prior). I get them to order a new alt and I take the battery back to the charger once again. Last night I install the new alt and it fired right up. Fast forward to today.....My wife calls saying the car has died once again and clicks when she turns it over. Ironically, she was in Rural King parking lot. I drive over, pull the battery, take it in to Rural King and once again get a new battery (thankfully I have gotten different employees so they've swapped it three times without question, haha). I put the battery back in the car and drive it about a mile to our house. I've since unhooked the new battery until I get time to look things over this weekend. I'm not sure if killing the battery yet once again (the day before) could have made the car stop today. I was hoping between the charger and then putting it back in the car the new alt would work out. Apparently it is shot though. So now I have a car at home with a new battery and a new alternator but I'm scared that something else is causing the problem. I just unplugged the battery for now and I'll take a look at it good this weekend. I think Henry is right that I may have a parasitic draw from somewhere. I noticed that the ac seemed to be really dependent on the RPM on the way home from Rural King. I wonder if that is related? It wasn't like the typical get cooler when the car is under load. It was like depending on how high the rpm was dictated the air flow. I'm totally lost. I'm going to start by checking some of the relays and grounds more closely.
Okay so I replaced the battery and the alt as described above. Then I replaced the alternator and battery again.....yeah you read that correct.
After doing all of this I just tell myself I swear I think I've bought a bunked alternator from Autozone. After returning from the beach I jump the car and drive it to Autozone. They test it and say the alternator is bad (yeah the one I just put on two weeks prior). I get them to order a new alt and I take the battery back to the charger once again. Last night I install the new alt and it fired right up. Fast forward to today.....My wife calls saying the car has died once again and clicks when she turns it over. Ironically, she was in Rural King parking lot. I drive over, pull the battery, take it in to Rural King and once again get a new battery (thankfully I have gotten different employees so they've swapped it three times without question, haha). I put the battery back in the car and drive it about a mile to our house. I've since unhooked the new battery until I get time to look things over this weekend. I'm not sure if killing the battery yet once again (the day before) could have made the car stop today. I was hoping between the charger and then putting it back in the car the new alt would work out. Apparently it is shot though. So now I have a car at home with a new battery and a new alternator but I'm scared that something else is causing the problem. I just unplugged the battery for now and I'll take a look at it good this weekend. I think Henry is right that I may have a parasitic draw from somewhere. I noticed that the ac seemed to be really dependent on the RPM on the way home from Rural King. I wonder if that is related? It wasn't like the typical get cooler when the car is under load. It was like depending on how high the rpm was dictated the air flow. I'm totally lost. I'm going to start by checking some of the relays and grounds more closely.