I'm starting to hate this car! It started when I knocked the visor light on last time I put the top up and drove it (two months ago). The battery was dead............no big, I jumped it, let it run for a bit, and started off to work. About one mile up the road it died. Barely no jucy in the battery. I left it on the side of the road for the day, walked back to my house and drove my other car to work. After work I jumped the vette again and drove it almost home before it died again (same situation). Luckily it coasted to across the street from my house. Since then I've jumped it and let it run in my driveway about four times with the same results. Even though the guage showed that it was charging I replaced the alternator yesterday and now it doesn't even want to run at idle without putting my foot on the gas???? I put a wrench on the throttle body so it would run and it did the same thing (died after running for about 8 minutes. That's were I'm at, I was too frustrated to work on it anymore. I don't know if it's related but I'm still having problems with my power antenna going up on it's own (even without the car on).

Any help please,
Ron :mad :mad :confused: :mad :mad


[Modified by 96impala.com, 11:30 AM 9/7/2003]


[Modified by 96impala.com, 11:31 AM 9/7/2003]

 

Chances are your battery has at least 1 dead cell. IMHO, I would replace the battery ASAP. I'm not sure of current tech., but years ago in a 74 TansAm, the integral regulator would blow if the battery was to low and the alt was charging to high and to long.

 

That would suck because the battery is only about 6 months old. I'll check into it. Thanks

 

On OEM alternators, especailly prior to 92s, they seem to have a problem recharging a low battery without heating up. If you let your pre 92 Vette sit for long periods of time, you should have a trickle charger in place to keep your battery fully charged. These alternators seem to fail when they heat up. So, you could have a battery that has lost it's charge and by running the engine to charge the battery, you could have overheated the alternator causing it to fail. Some guys upgrade their alternators. Look at http://www.corvetteclinicinc.com under C4 solutions. Your current alternator is designed to run the electrical system and only recharge the battery after a start. It was not designed to recharge a dead battery. Hope this helps. :cheers:

 

:iagree:

 

Your alternator will never fully recharge the battery properly. Buy a real battery charger and let it charge overnight. New battery may be in order if that doesn't work. Good luck

Kitt


[Modified by Mr Mojo, 9:07 PM 9/7/2003]

 

Thanks for the info everyone, I'll get a charger and give it a try.

I haven't seen a reply about it not idling after the new alt., how would the new alt. make the car not idle??


[Modified by 96impala.com, 8:59 PM 9/7/2003]