replaced battery and alternator. if its idling, the battery charges. as soon as its under load, you can see the battery gauge needle drop right before your eyes. lights on, drains it. braking, drains it. took it for a drive before and as soon as i accelerated it started spluttering and coughing and carrying on. then the battery died and i had to get towed home
intrade,
Mar 12, 8:12pm
well its obviously not chargeingdid you mesure with a multimeter at the battery ! also what car make year and engine! older cars have external regulator on alternator sounds likeyours has that and that is whats broken.
twistedvenus,
Mar 12, 8:41pm
a friends coming out tonight with a volt meter. its a 94 ford fairmont 4.0L
meathead_timaru,
Mar 12, 8:59pm
The alternator you got is faulty (overcharging or undercharging) or there's a break in the charging wire.
gmphil,
Mar 12, 9:04pm
Fuseable link!
twistedvenus,
Mar 12, 9:06pm
nah thats all been checked and is all good
jash3,
Mar 12, 10:25pm
Could be a bad earth!
mark.52,
Mar 13, 12:41am
As meathead said, faulty alternator or regulator. I'd suspect undercharging.
If you have a battery charger, hook it up overnight. Next day (or when you can get booked in) drive it back to where the alternator and battery were installed. Don't have any of the electrics (radio, lights, aircon etc) on during the drive. Obv, use the indicators and other essentials as you need to, but don't use anything else.
I'd be disappointed if a properly charged battery couldn't get you an hours' drive down the road. No guarantees, though.
bigfatmat1,
Mar 13, 3:12am
check voltage at batt while under load then check at back of alt on the bolt on terminal while under load and report back! Also check belt tension
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