Batt/Alt tested at Advance Auto-fine, yet car wont start as soon as I parked.

But my turn signals are really slow, and when I shut off my car this morning (86 cavalier) it died, and would not start again. It wouldn't even turn over. I'm sort of ticked, since I just spent 70.00 on a battery, and the next day drove over to Advance Auto to have them test the charging system both at Idle and under load.

The lights in the interior weren't dimming, and it WAS about 3 degrees this AM. I spent an hour last night trying to get it to start since it sat outside, but once I finally got it started I parked it in the garage with a space heater on Low and it started right up this AM. I did not let it run last night. My drive to work was about 25 minutes, but at about 25 mph because of snow and traffic, with headlights on and the heater. My headlights didn't dim, and my dummy light didn't come on, but my turn signals are really slow.

Any ideas? Piece of mind says just change the alternator but I don't have 100.00 laying around right now to do it and we are a two car type family.

Greetings Alathea welcome to the Forum.

Have you checked your Cable connections on the Starter, and those from the Battery at the chassis for good ground. Either may be loose or corroded.
This is sort of a long shot, but, it may be that your Motor Oil is too thick at the temperatures you're experiencing.

Might try getting a 5/30 Multi Viscosity in it, which will let it spin up for a start a little easier.

(I'm still thinking it's more a Cable issue though)

Have a good Day !
S.W.

I'm going to go out and poke at it some more sometime today while im here, but I think I have 5W in there now. My concern is that the alternator/charging system was tested, but now I can't be sure that it actually is ok, and im at my destination.

Id like to assume that the load tester machine that was used is pretty fool proof, but are there things that would cause it to register a false positive? The battery is about 5 days old.

Thanks for the idea, though!

I checked the connections again, and had a loose negative cable. FF to today, low charge condition again. There is a set of wires off the main alternator/wire trunk that terminates into a connector on the inside drivers fender next to the reservoir for the washer fluid. Three wires are in there, one space left. Two of them next to each other have bare wires and I found them touching tonight-they spark with they touch and they turn on a fan under the hood somewhere as well, when touching. I separated them, and wonder if their crossing is impeding the charge from the alternator?

Im still only getting 12. something with the car running at idle and the lights off. I didn't even make it home before I had to park it. Battery at rest now reads approx 11.4.

Does anyone have any idea what the bank of wires might be?

Alathea,

Did you actually see them test the Battery, or did they take it off somewhere out of your sight!?
You might have it tested at a different facility, and see if the results are consistent.

Sounds like that bare wire bundle is related to the A/C system, and the bare wires may show up in another place, if that bareness was caused by an over-current, causing some melting of the Jackets on the Wires.

IF your charging system is working properly, you should see about 14.5 volts on your Meter, when the vehicle is running, with or without the accessories on. That being a fast idle or greater speed.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

I stood right there while he hooked it up and he had me idle, then load, then idle again. It did not produce a printout though. This box was supposed to check the whole system-ive seen them use the wheel out on on the cart, but never this one. I can't have it tested elsewhere, unfortunately, since I limped it into a parking lot last night after starting it and driving it on and off through the day, it suddenly began exhibiting low charge behavior on the way home with the lights on. I got it off the road and parked it. THe interior lights are strong, but the console lights were starting to dim. When I parked it it wouldn't start-click, sort of turn, but not actually turn over. I don't buy an alternator with christmas so soon, and we just had a baby, but mostly because its money thrown away if it isn't the problem. (Hence the charge test that I had done) Can those tests be faulty?

Thanks for the ideas so far-if I could attach images I could put in a drawing of where the wires are.

Alathea,

I certainly simpathise with you, problems of this type can be very exasperating to diagnose, and sometimes even Pros miss things.

Thank you for the Drawing, though it's value didn't provide me with much insight to your problem. So, let me just make some statements here, where you can evaluate them, and possibly focus on the issue.

First, Alternators now come with built in Voltage Regulators. Usually they work, or they don't, but there are times when they kinda work.

As I said, you need to see 14.5 Volts Direct Current placed on your Battery, regardless of how much load you have "turned on" on your Vehicle. (Lights-A/C-anything).

You said that the Vehicle operated (cranked-ran) during the day, isn't that right? But, when you drove it at night, it messed up, right?

That leads me to believe that the Alternator is not putting out sufficient Voltage, to maintain the Battery, when the accessories are being used.

I can't understand why the Technician who checked your Vehicle, couldn't have detected a lack of Voltage, when you idled and revved the motor, turning on the accessories. He should have told you clearly, that the Alternator was, or was not putting out enough voltage. Assuming he knew what that Voltage was? Now you do, (14.5 VDC) regardless of the load.

Now, IF the Alternator is marginal, putting out just a little voltage, that could cause it to operate ok during the Day, but, when you load the system (Lights-A/C), it is short of voltage, and then causes problems.

Now, IF the Battery has a weak Cell, and will not store the Voltage, it could be completely bad, or marginally bad, causing the problems to show up when you used the Accessories.

He told you that your Battery was ok, so, that leaves the Alternator, OR, a pretty bad short (drain on the system) when the Accessories are used.

Given these variables, I just don't see how you're going to diagnose this, without involving a knowledgeable Professional, who specializes in Vehicle Electrical Repair.

I wish I could give you an alternative, but, possibly this will help you decide which direction to take.

Have a good Day !
S.W.