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Your battery was dead. In many cars, when the battery can't provide enough cranking amps, you will hear a clicking instead of the normal starting sound. The starter battery draws a lot of current. When that happens, the voltage available to the rest of the system drops dramatically, especially if the battery is weak. That's why your clock reset itself. ...

Measuring the state-of-charge of a lead-acid battery is non-trivial. The easiest way is to use a voltmeter. You'll need a digital meter with 3 1/2 digits of precision. Let the battery rest, disconnected, for 24 hours. Then measure the voltage across the terminals. According to http://www.phrannie.org/battery.html, anything over 12.60V is at least 85% ...

Probably not, but maybe in some circumstances. I've had 4 alternator failures in my life. 1) Toyota MR2 - Alternator diode blew up (big bang and smoke) while driving on the expressway. No prior warning. Just BANG! and was suddenly on battery. 2) Toyota MR2 - Alternator casing broke causing the alternator to bind up and jam (with loud scraping and ...

Most of the time a ground loop is the cause of this problem. This problem is common especially if your stereos speakers are amplified, and can be fixed my making sure that your stereo unit and/or amplifier have a good ground connection. This can be done by either finding a more direct ground connection to the cars frame, sanding the area around your ground ...

Alternators aren't built for one engine so the manufacturer can't possibly know the gearing / ratio between the alternator and the engine. Therefore the RPM listed in the spec will be the RPM for the alternator. To calculate the alternators RPM you will need to find the diameter of the alternator pully [a] and the one connected to (presumably) the ...

This is actually much simpler than that chart implies. Don't worry about ohms per thousand feet - for a four foot length this will be very very low. What is more important is the maximum current a wire is rated to. So here the question is whether you will want the OO gauge as it is rated to 190A in the power transmission column, or the 2 gauge as it is ...

Disclaimer: This isn’t a qualified answer, but I thought it could be useful addition above that of a comment. I’ve looked into DIY coil repair before, and while such operation is possible (including winding the coils taut using hand drill or bench press), it’s not advisable for a novice. Beside the difficulty of producing a decent coil, even more so ...

I managed to pull over and change to the spare wheel in about 30 minutes (having never changed a tire before! Lesson learned!) Well done. It's not the world's most challenging job but you can hurt yourself if you're stressed (say after a blowout). Whilst driving after the jump start and while the battery was still very low on power, I noticed ...

First off, you may want a 2nd opinon on the alternator. If both battery and alternator are good, then its either a wiring or ECU problem. Check the contacts on the battery terminals/connectors to make sure they're not loose, dirty, or corroded. Then follow the ground wire (the black one) back to the chassis of the car to make sure it has a solid ground..

I found a repair/rebuild guide for the CS130 alternator. Page 5 contains the following: SLIP RING SERVICING It the slip rings are dirty, they may be cleaned and finished with 400 grain or finer polishing cloth. Spin the rotor and hold the polishing cloth against the slip rings until they are clean. CAUTION: The rotor must be rotated in order ...

If you put too much of a load on the alternator it will constantly max itself out as it tries to keep up with the demand. Running at max will heat up the alternator and eventually it will burn out. As @Brian pointed out, probably sooner than later. Most aftermarket audio systems that require higher amps also have high output alternators.

If you believe it's not the battery, it could be your starter motor solenoid. I've had a solenoid go on a couple of cars I've owned, it seems to be quite a common thing. The solenoid is what you hear clicking when it can't get enough current to turn the motor over, but it could also be on it's way out and getting stuck perhaps. Usually when a starter motor ...

If you've tested the battery and determined that the battery is good, and if a jump start doesn't solve the problem, you could remove the starter motor and take it to an auto-parts store or a mechanic. They can test the starter motor independent of the other systems in the car. While the motor is out, you can also inspect it for damage. On most cars ...

Generally, the alternator provides enough power to run the car, even without a battery present. If your car stops as soon as the battery is disconnected, then you have a problem in the charging circuit. If you're 100% certain that the alternator is good, then something else is preventing the power from getting to the electrical system. If the charging ...

There are three common causes for this issue. Two of them are the ones you have identified (failing batery or alternator), the third is the simplest - a poor connection or broken wire from the alternator. This latter you should be able to check with a multimeter, There should be a small wire coming from the back of the alternator to the dashboard carrying ...

Most modern engines should increase RPM's when the load on the electrical system increases, as the Engine Management system should monitor voltage and identify it being drawn low, so increasing RPM to increase output from the alternator. Even many older engines would do this.

However you hooked up that alarm, disconnect it, and make sure it is good and disconnected. If that alarm was what drained your original battery in the first place, it's probably still not working and draining your battery and shorting out your electrical system. Then, take that new battery right back to autozone and convince them to trade it for a new one, ...

I would recommend fitting an analogue voltmeter, and potentially an ammeter as well. The voltmeter will give you an idea of battery voltage whenthe engine is off, and alternator performance when it is running, and the ammeter will give you an idea of current drain - You can compare this with the rated current of your alternator to know if you're overloading ...

Here is the schematic showing how the mega fuse should be wired in, you obviously don't have the second battery option but that mega fuse is on vehicles with only one battery as well. You can tell for sure by checking the option label (approx 3x5 inch white label with black writing with a bunch of 3 digit codes) in the glove box. If you have ZM9 listed then ...

Under hard braking it is possible to lock a wheel. If you lock a wheel without disengaging the clutch you will stall the engine even if you are still moving. If however the stall occurs while the clutch is disengaged or while you are in neutral then either you are somehow losing voltage and therefore spark, or the brake vacuum is somehow effecting your ...

Well if you have the expertise to rebuilt the entire winding and replace worn out bushes, then yes, it can be termed as a DIY project. However many people are not well versed with electrical motor winding and you may need an experts help. Before you do that, you may refer to automotix.net/autorepair/diy/ which has many DIY technique on repairing and serving ...

Certainly sounds like a dead (or dying...) battery. Voltage measurement here would be crucial. From what I'm hearing I'd venture during crank you'll see less than 10V DC on that battery. That's a definite indicator to replace the battery. Could the alternator also be part of the problem? Surely, it could. If there's an excess current draw could that be ...

I know that some vehicles ( Dodge diesel at least and maybe more) the alternator output is regulated by the ECM (engine control module). It looks at several signals to adjust the output,voltage,load,etc. If you don't find an open wire as @Larry has suggested, have the alternator checked. Most parts stores will check them for free. There is always the chance ...

First and foremost, great presentation, very descriptive. Looking at the belt diagram on the vehicle it seems that it is in dead one belt. Here is how I would handle this. If you have the ability and tools: Remove the serpentine belt and inspect all pulleys (not just the ones in question) In order to remove the belt you will have to pull the ...

I don't know of any vehicle (as equipped from the factory) that increases the idle speed to compensate for a large draw on the battery. If the alternator starts bogging the engine down then the computer should compensate to maintain the set idle speed but not make it increase. It's easy to find out if the alternator will put out enough current at idle to ...

I have a couple concerns with your plan. These types of lamps (bulbs) are fragile. If it is mounted to your rollbar there is a good chance it will be broken if you do any type of off roading. The most effecient means of powering extra lights is the 12volts of the Jeep. Because of losses in the inverter you will use more power than an equivilent 12v light. ...

When converting the 12V DC from your battery to whatever voltage the inverter puts out, there are conversion steps internally to AC and back through switching the voltage. The switching circuit frequency is probably sensitive to the voltage, and as this varies (can be from 11 to even 15v in some cars) that could change the speed of the switching stage.

First thing to do is to check for short circuits. With the battery fully charged and nothing switched on, pop an ammeter on the battery and measure the power draw - there will be some to power the alarm & radio preset, but that should be pretty tiny. If there is a large draw, you've got a short and the tedious job of tracking it down begins...

I'm not sure about the Beemers, but many starter motors have an (dis)engagable gear /clutch that will connect the starter motor to the fly wheel. Once the engine starts, the gear disengages. From your description, it sounds like that gear was munged somehow. Also, you may have dislodged it by push-starting the car.