1995 Plymouth Acclaim

KOLEY214

MEMBER
1995 PLYMOUTH ACCLAIM
6 CYL

My plymouth has been having charging problems. At first my cousin thought it might be the alternator we replaced that but it was still having problem starting so we got a new battery. Now its doing the same thing it wont start. I drove it today and it started doing the same thing it did the fisrt time it quit the lighting started dimming if you turned on the head lights ou couldnt turn on the radio \and what not. I took it to a garage they\ did a test on the computer at first they told me I was gonna need a new one but then said \a different garage could replace something and that would work. Im just wondering what you guys might think is wrong with it.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Your description is hard to make sense. Are you having trouble with dimming lights and slow cranking? That suggests a charging system problem. The first garage said you needed a new what? It won't start, but you drove it today. How can that be?

I guess the place to start is with the charging system test. The engine should start fine if the battery is charged for an hour at a slow rate. Measure the battery voltage after charging the battery both before the engine is started and when it is running. Measure the voltage again with the engine running when the problem acts up. Use an inexpensive digital voltmeter. Those three readings will help determine where to go next.