Battery not staying charged

Tiny
PENNINGTON.TRAVIS
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 HYUNDAI TIBURON
  • 77,000 MILES
I have a 2001 Tiburon with 77,000 miles on it. After returning from a trip to south Texas (roughly 700 miles without a hitch), I noticed my dash lights/headlights dimming and shortly thereafter my car began to idle roughly and sputtering until it died. After letting the car sit for roughly an hour, it started up and ran fine until about 5 minutes later when it acted exactly as before (dash lights dimming, losing all electrical power slowly until it died again). I removed the alternator and battery, and had them tested at AutoZone, where I was told the alternator was good but the battery was bad. I went ahead and got a new alternator and battery and just finished installing them both (after I charged the battery). The car did the exact same thing as before. I'm at a loss as to what could be causing this since It's run fine for the 4 years I've had it and I've never had any problems with the electrical system until now. Any advice would be helpful, Thank you. -Travis
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 AT 5:00 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Do you have a multimeter to do some testing?So you replaced the alternator even though it tested good?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 AT 5:16 AM
Tiny
PENNINGTON.TRAVIS
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
My father in law has one I can borrow but to be honest I've never used one but I can have him give me guidance as far as that's concerned. After the tech at autozone said it tested good I called the service dept at a local hyundai dealership and I described the problem to him, to which he replied "autozone can't fully bench test an alternator appropriately so although it tested there as being good, its a 99% chance your alternator needs to be replaced"
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 AT 5:40 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
I would disagree if the alternator wasnt charging at all like you thought it wasnt then it would test bad on bench test. Alright with the key in the run position and the battery fully charged. The white wire at the B+ terminal the pink wire to the S terminal and the white wire at the L terminal measure the voltage readings to them at the alternator. There power feeds please post the results.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 AT 5:53 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links