my lights radio ect won't stay on unless its being jumped by another car. Once I take off the cables with in a few seconds everythin turns off. I changed the alternator and still havin the same problem. This started happenin afta I went thru a car wash and my alternator got wet (at least that's what I think caused it) because right after I went to flash my high beams and my radio cut off but came right back on... can someone tell me what's wrong here

 

Check your battery terminals and make sure they are clean. Then check and make sure your battery ground is good to the body.

 

is the battery light on while the car is running? If so then check your alt. wiring to see if it could be compromised. Otherwise look into the battery and the terminal ends.

 

Your hamsters have H1N1.

.............or you have a bad ground.

 

Check the terminal make sure it's tight, if you don't have a battery tie down, get one... this happened to me.

 

Nah, battery light doesn't come on at all. Not even while the key is turn to the on position

 

Check the grounds from the battery to the car frame. Then check the water in your water, if applicable. Then check to see if the volts from the alt. are good and at their normal output levels. You may have bought a bad alternator. JMO.

 

well have you tried any of these things.

 

its entirely possible you bought a bad alternator. did you get one new or refurbished? i got a malfunctioning MAF once and returned it for a perfectly good working one.

 

it's probably a bad alternator. the battery is only needed for initial start up.

 

not entirely true. i had a battery in my supra that was so far gone that it would do the same thing. i would jumpstart the car and as soon as i pulled the cables it would want to die unless you held the rpm's up. the alt could be putting out enough volts but if the car is drawing more amps than being put out it could do that(with a bad battery).

 

i had the same thing happen in my civic awhile back. put a new alternator in and it kept dieing. turned out it was the battery, it was so far gone that it couldnt charge. and one battery checker said it was full, the other said it was empty.

try replacing the battery, usually if its under 2 years you can get a new one. atleast at napa you can do that.

 

ok im back almost 2 months later and still havent figured out whats wrong with this car. i had the car on craigslist and got a lot of offers for it but i dont really want to get rid of it because of this.

i put the car in 2 different shops and they were both NO help what so ever. i replaced the alternator about 4 times now (all refurbished). replaced the battery terminal ends. had the battery tested and was told it was good but will buy a brand new one today. i remove everythin electrical i had put in the car (radio, amps, tvs, alarm, and built in police radar) just to make sure nothing was shorting out. i used a test light to check all of the wires goin to the alternator and they were all good except one coming from a plug under the air filter that goes the fuse box. cut the wire at the plug and ran a new wire to the fuse box. tested it with a meter again and its still not fully chargin but is charging more after i replaced the wire. all of the other wires goin to the alternator are good so i have no clue what else to check..

 

Forget the idiot light, have you put a voltmeter on it? I would check it running, and shut off, check the voltage at various RPMs, check it with lights on, etc. As others have said, it sounds like the battery is shot, not just dead, but internally shorted...ZERO capacity. I agree some refurbished parts are no good, but 4 in a row? I'd get a new battery.

Edit: To elaborate, put a voltmeter on the battery, jump start the car, let it run for a bit, check the voltage immediately after you shut it off, I'm guessing it will instantly be way low, then watch the voltage while you crank it, I bet it goes to zero.

 

just put in a new battery & still didnt help. voltmeter is at 12volts with the car running..