- Thread starter
- #21
Battery terminals were both recently replaced, connections are tight and no corrosion. Battery is new (1500 miles), Super Start Premium 27F from OReilly. Previous died because I left the car overnight ACCidentally. When I tried to charge the old battery with my charger it could never push more than 7V so OReilly took it back under warranty. Car has been starting just fine and the voltmeter on my Scan Guage has been showing 14+ during operation of the vehicle. I noticed the high pitched whining sound while I was doing some running around with the vehicle earlier in the day, so it would have run for a few hours with the whining. It wasn't loud at all. In fact it's a fairly faint whining noise. If only I had known that's the sound of a dying alternator, we would have driven our other car to the show!
Saturday night we left for the concert and got less than 10 miles from home. That's when we started noticing the stereo flipping itself off and the antenna going up and down. Drove about 30 seconds further until stopped at a light, that's when I turned the car off thinking I'd just restart and resolve the radio. All I got when I tried to start was the rapid clicking noise, and lots of dim dash lights blinking, so I knew battery was dead. If a brand new battery dies mid-drive, given the new terminals and tight connections, along with the high pitched whine, I can only assume it's the alternator.
This was the really scary part. It's a pretty busy road. My wife was trying to direct traffic around to the left while I leaned in through the passenger side to pop the hood for the jump. Meanwhile we had jerks passing us on the right side of the car honking horns at us as I was trying to pop the hood. It was not fun. First jump start with the battery pack got me about 50 feet and then the car died again, but this point where I at least had grass on the side of the road to break down in. Went out and jumped it again with the battery pack and hobbled onto the grass with the battery pack still connected and the hood up. Then I got out of the car and disconnected the battery pack, and the car immediately died.
After that it was tow truck time. And not Rolling Stones time. I'm at least thankful that I broke down where I did and not 100 feet later, or we would have been in the middle of a busy intersection. Nobody got hurt, the car didn't get damaged. Plenty of blessings to count.
Here's a question. If you have a dead alternator and a dead battery, and you put a new fully charged battery in the car, assuming you only start the car once, how far can you drive on battery power before the battery dies?
Saturday night we left for the concert and got less than 10 miles from home. That's when we started noticing the stereo flipping itself off and the antenna going up and down. Drove about 30 seconds further until stopped at a light, that's when I turned the car off thinking I'd just restart and resolve the radio. All I got when I tried to start was the rapid clicking noise, and lots of dim dash lights blinking, so I knew battery was dead. If a brand new battery dies mid-drive, given the new terminals and tight connections, along with the high pitched whine, I can only assume it's the alternator.
This was the really scary part. It's a pretty busy road. My wife was trying to direct traffic around to the left while I leaned in through the passenger side to pop the hood for the jump. Meanwhile we had jerks passing us on the right side of the car honking horns at us as I was trying to pop the hood. It was not fun. First jump start with the battery pack got me about 50 feet and then the car died again, but this point where I at least had grass on the side of the road to break down in. Went out and jumped it again with the battery pack and hobbled onto the grass with the battery pack still connected and the hood up. Then I got out of the car and disconnected the battery pack, and the car immediately died.
After that it was tow truck time. And not Rolling Stones time. I'm at least thankful that I broke down where I did and not 100 feet later, or we would have been in the middle of a busy intersection. Nobody got hurt, the car didn't get damaged. Plenty of blessings to count.
Here's a question. If you have a dead alternator and a dead battery, and you put a new fully charged battery in the car, assuming you only start the car once, how far can you drive on battery power before the battery dies?
