The car is a 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula....new alternator, new battery recently, and now the battery is showing signs of weakening again (squeaking belt, turn signal weak and gauge in dash indicator is lower.)..... What the problem could be?
View 2 RepliesI tried to put in a new battery for my mom's 1988 Pontiac 6000, but could not get the battery out with having to disassemble other parts of the engine. What is the easiest way to do this?
View 8 RepliesI have a 1988 Volvo 240 DL station wagon that has been in my family since just before I was born. It has somewhere around 300K miles on it (the odometer broke 7 years ago at 250K). It drives around town more or less fine, usually. But sometimes it loses power on me. Usually this happens when I take it on highways, up big hills, in situations where I need to accelerate quickly, etc. It just starts to slow down, and I have to downshift and ease slowly through whatever stretch of road I'm on until I can get back up to speed (usually on a downhill). It's not totally consistent--sometimes it has this problem, other times it doesn't.
The car will go through stretches where it runs fine, then I'll have this problem on a highway, and then it's a little more likely to happen for a period after that (even on surface streets). This has been happening in some form for a few years. When I first had the problem, it happened continually until I heard a terrible rattling in the engine. When I took it in, they found that a spring in the piston/cylinder had broken off and shot up, breaking the cap off one of the cylinders (sorry for the lack of a more technical explanation).
When they fixed that, the problem seemed to go away for a while, but eventually came back (though there has been no rattling since). The most recent time, it had been running around town just fine. Then I took it out on the highway and really lost power--had to slow it down to 35-40mph going up a hill on a 55mph highway. For the rest of the drive it struggled up hills, even as low as 2nd gear. But on my drive home (about 1.5 hours later), the car ran smoothly (though I continued to baby it, and there were fewer upward hills). Since then, even around town it sometimes feels like it might lose power again, but it never becomes a huge issue because I haven't demanded a whole lot of the car.
After that long-winded explanation, I'm wondering: could this be something as simple as spark plugs? Or is this definitely a bigger issue with the engine? If it's a cheap fix, I'm happy to go for it, but if it will require putting several hundred (or more) into the engine, I'm inclined just to let it limp along until it's finally time to take the car out back and shoot it. Figuratively, of course.
Multi information display is not working. Also the 12v battery keeps losing power requiring jump starts.
View 2 RepliesMy F250 has had transmission problems since I bought it cheap from a friend last year. I knew it needed a new seal as it was loosing a quart of fluid every month or so. Also, when the truck was not warmed up the transmission had a hard time going from 1st to 2nd. Recently, the same problem popped up with the change from 2nd to 3rd. Today, backing up a hill the transmission slipped, refused to engage, and the engine was revving out of control. The body and engine are still in good shape.
View 3 RepliesI have a 1988 Volvo 240 DL that I just replaced the battery. It started right up after it was installed. We drove it home and parked it for one week without trying to start it again because we still have parts to buy to pass safety. I live in UT. My son went out to start it today and it would not make any sound or turn over. What should I check next? Starter Solenoid? Alternator?
View 2 RepliesFor those of us who owns 1988 735IL and battery died and doors are locked and tried to lift the passenger door and turn the key 100 times to engage emergency unlock and did not work below solution works good.
FYI the trunk unlocks and opens with the key by just placing the key and turning then push the button
This my friend is ingenius tried it after I've been working to unlock the door with a dead battery for 6 hours even AAA don't have a clue (Slim Jim is discontinued due to side airbag. Lock smith would do the same by turning the key while lever is up position but the lock knob button needs to come up about an inch and a quarter. Good luck with that.
Solution I did
- open the trunk by with the key. Yes the trunk will open
- pry the trunk light and locate positive and negative post.
- remove the electronic connector protector
- removing bulb not necessary
- Jump Start device 300AMP or a 12 Volt power source for cars
- simple wire from an old electronic device
- have to wires for red and black
- Stripped it to expose metal then connect positive and negative to the trunk light connector (pay attention red and black) goes to red and black of the battery source
- set polarity on the jump start 300amp gadget
- it gives enough juice to the system
- then turn the key on the passenger/driver key
- it works
I have an 88 244 dl. I recently changed the battery charge bulb in the instrument cluster and no I have a no start. The starter engages and the motor turns over but makes no attempt to start. I checked all the fuses including the 25 amp fuse under the hood.
View 2 RepliesI have a Nissan 98 frontier 4wheel drive 4 cylinder king cab. I just changed the windshield washer pump and since then the brake and battery indicator lights stay on. I disconnected the battery and that didn't work. The battery checks out and I could find the switch for the parking brake to check it. Sounds like a short in the wiring harness somewhere.
View 7 RepliesNew battery, new terminals but my car won't turn over if I need to make a quick stop somewhere. I must wait at least an hour for the proper amount of voltage to build up and then the car starts just fine. What is going on?
View 7 RepliesI've bought a used prius v ,the mileage is now 72k and as of monday (2 days ago) the maintenance reqd light came on intermittently when I start the car. So, I checked and saw that this meant it was due for a service, no big deal.
I don't know if it's linked but Monday I drove about 360 miles and then last night (Tuesday) I noticed my battery drained quickly on a 7 mile trip , it went down to 2 bars (they became blue on the car display) and took forever to go back up. Then same thing this afternoon but funnily enough, not this morning.
I just purchased a 2004 Prius. When I am driving the battery seems to work fine but yet the battery loses charge when I am sitting in the car while running on idle. The battery goes down to 2 bars and the engine has to kick in to charge the battery. I have no check engine lights. Does this mean my battery needs to be replaced? If so then what are your thought on rebuilt batteries.
View 17 RepliesI have a 2005 Prius with about 170,000 km on it. I bought it two years ago used at 150,000 km. Everything worked fine for about 8 months, them I noticed the main battery started to drain on first start in the morning after driving a short distance. It would drop down to about 2-3 bars most days, especially on cold mornings. After reading on this forum for a bit I turned off the key locator, and it went back to normal for about 6 months, at which point it started dropping again. I haven't had any warning lights come on yet.
I replaced the 12 V battery, as recommended here with an Optima Yellow Top, even though the original one showed no voltage drop. It actually tested higher than the new Yellow Top I got. My fear is that the traction battery is losing modules. I'm planning on testing them soon.
I have a 2000 7.3 just replaced the alternator little over 2 months ago old one was wore out...heres my problem the night before last I was coming home and started to lose charge and made it home..shut the truck off and tried to restart and it would just click due to low volts.. the next day tested both batteries and they tested weak so I just cleaned the battery post and the cables..and started up and ran fine all day.. last night on the way home started to lose volts again got all the way down to 8 volts showing then all of a sudden it kicked in went back to normal.. and now today started to do the same thing by losing volts but now its dead but the batteries still test weak with no discharge under a load
View 1 RepliesI have a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am with about 130k miles on it. For some reason my car has been dying lately. It did this a few times so the obvious thing was to buy a new battery- oct 2011. Everything was good for a couple months but I recently went on a trip for the weekend and when I came home the car was dead. I jumped it and everything was good until this week. I had a work conference and left wednesday at 8am. When I got home Friday at 5pm the car was dead again. I had an alternator test done before but could it be the alternator? I love my little car and would like to get a couple more years out of her!!!
View 7 RepliesI have a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Yesterday my Check Engine light came on while driving. It's done this before and randomly gone away. My car has been in the shop twice in the past month for routine maintenance.
The light annoys me, so I disconnected the battery and reconnected it a few minutes later. The car wouldn't start. I jumped it. It started, I let it idle, turned it off, and it's dead again. I did the same once more. Still dead.
So, my family "mechanic" says I probably didn't connect the terminals well enough, and that it might just need to be adjusted (in all fairness, I'm playing the stupid girl card here). He said worst case scenario is that I randomly need a new alternator (I doubt this based on the circumstances), and it's possible I might need a new battery (I think I replaced it three years ago, but maybe I didn't).
2004 Pontiac Grand Am GT, 3.4L V6...It only starts if the battery has been disconnected for at least an hour and then is immediately reconnected prior to use. Once the block is hot, however, it starts flawlessly and repeatedly every time. When the block cools, it won't start again unless I disconnect the battery and wait an hour. I did a bunch of tests without first disconnecting the battery: The fuel bar is pressurizing properly, the crankshaft position sensor works, the ignition control module has power, the plugs and wires are in good condition and have the right resistance. The coils are fine.
I did an OBD-II scan as well, no codes. However, unless I go through the disconnect-wait-reconnect procedure, there appears to be only a weak spark. I don't think it's the ignition security feature. There's no security light, performing a security reset does not fix anything, and the car starts repeatedly and reliably as long as the block is hot. I was wondering if it might be a failing sensor that has a thermal dependence? Should I look at the powertrain control module? The ignition control module?
2003 Pontiac Grand Am GT, 3.4L V6...It only starts if the battery has been disconnected for at least an hour and then is immediately reconnected prior to use. Once the block is hot, however, it starts flawlessly and repeatedly every time. When the block cools, it won't start again unless I disconnect the battery and wait an hour.
View 2 RepliesSo I got up this morning and my car wouldn't start. It was turning over, kinda. Figured it was a problem with the battery. So I pulled the battery out of my car, took it to the local O'Rileys, they confirmed the batter was dead and sold me a new one. Put the new battery in the car, and it still won't start. The car turns over just fine now, but it won't fire.
View 2 RepliesI have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE 2.4L 4 cyl automatic. The car had been sitting for about 6 months and I had to replace the starter. Finally a day off, replaced starter, charged battery, the heavens opened and the angels sang when it fired right up. Let car run for about 20 minutes sounded great. Noticed that the battery light came on. Took car to give it a much needed bath and when finished, was slammed back down to earth when the car wouldn't start.
Day 2... Remove alternator and have it checked. Autozone says it's good, I replaced the serpentine belt because I noticed some small fraying in a spot. Tensioner was great. Charge up car and it starts. Try to restart it and not enough power.
Now a week later, I am thinking battery or fusible link or bad wire. I pull the battery and have AutoZone check. Battery is bad. I replaced battery and "The Pickle" started right up! Enjoying her gentle purring once again I am dragged back to reality when the alarm bell sounds and the battery light goes off again. I am now thinking fusible link and wire once again.
I have an 03 vibe. when the temperature get cold around 18 degrees or colder, what would cause the daytime running lights to com on by their self and drain the battery.
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