2007 Chrysler Town and Country alternator

KEN MARLER

MEMBER
2007 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
3.8L
V6
FWD
AUTOMATIC
104,000 MILES

I'm an old school mechanic, and my question deals with the newer model vehicles. If a car was equipped with a generator and you disconnected the battery while the engine was running, the engine would shut-off. Then came along alternators which made checking for a bad battery easy, because the engine would continue to run once the battery was disconnected. The problem i'm experiencing with this particular vehicle is once the battery is disconnected the engine will only run for about 5 mins. And then shut-off. Is there a protective circuitry in the new alternators that automatically cause this? Thanks in advance. Ken

Sunday, December 29th, 2013 AT 10:11 AM

1 Reply

CJ MEDEVAC

MECHANIC
11,005 POSTS

. WRONG!

OLD RIGS COULD BE DISCONNECTED WHILE THEY WERE RUNNING AND THE GENERATOR WOULD CONTINUE TO RUN THE IGNITION SYSTEM----NOTHING IGNITION WISE WAS HARMED

. THIS WAS NEVER THE PROPER WAY TO TEST, EVEN BACK THEN

THEN CAME THE ALTERNATOR WITH EXTRA GOODIES. LIKE DIODES AND INTERNAL REGULATORS. AND THE ENTIRE VEHICLE STARTED GETTING ELECTRONICS. REMOVING THE BATTERY CABLES WHILE IT'S RUNNING, IN A LOT OF CASES WILL CAUSE A VOLTAGE SPIKE. STUFF "COULD" GET RUINED. BUT WHAT'S A HUNDRED BUCKS HERE AND THERE AND SOME BASIC DIAGNOSING?

NOW WE GOT MR. SUPER COMPUTER CAR. REMOVING THE CABLES WHILE IT'S RUNNING FRIES SOME ELECTRONICS, MODULE, AND A COMPUTER. GOTTA HAVE A $40,000 DIAGNOSTIC MACHINE (A WILD GUESS). PARTS COSTING HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS. NOT TO MENTION YOUR NEW HAIR LOSS. WHERE YOU HAVE PULLED IT ALL OUT.

. AND STILL, "MAYBE" YOU VERIFIED THE ALTERNATOR WORKED. NOTHING ABOUT THE BATTERY'S CONDITION AT ALL!

THE BEST-US, SAFEST, CHEAPEST, AND EZist THING TO DO. IN OR OUT OF THE CAR, IS TO TAKE THE BATTERY AND/ OR ALTERNATOR TO A POPULAR AUTO PARTS STORE. NORMALLY THEY WILL THOROUGHLY TEST THEM FOR FREE. NOT JUST A VOLTAGE TEST, BUT LOAD TESTS TOO

. LOOK IN THE MIRROR. STILL GOT THAT HAIR?

THE MEDIC

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