Eradicator |
05-10-2006 11:15 PM |
Battery or Alternator problem?
I went to start my car tonight and it acted like the battery was almost dead. I know I didn't leave my lights on and it has been starting just fine up until tonight's incident. After it didn't turn over, I let it sit for a minute and tried again. After let it crank for a few seconds, it _barely_ started. I noticed all the guages in the instrument cluster went bonkers, sweeping to max and min a couple times. Then I also noticed the engine automatically revved up to around 2k RPM. The DCS light started blinking, the "swerving car" light came on steady, and the CEL came on steady. After sitting for a minute, I tried revving it up higher and no matter how far I depressed the gas pedal, it would only go up to around 3k RPM. I let it sit and "idle" for 5 or so minutes before deciding to start driving home. It felt like I had about 50 HP ... it would only go about 7-8 MPH in first, so I shifted up to second and got up to around 15. After finally accelerating (slooooowly), I shifted to third for a whopping 26 MPH top speed. All the while, maxing around 2500-3000 RPM. After I got home, I shut her off and waited a minute to try again. After turning the key, it had the same slow response to turn over, but at least this time the instruments didn't do their sweeping motions. The "swerving car" and CEL lights still illuminate, but the DCS doesn't blink now.
Any ideas? I'm going to _try_ to get into a dealer service shop tomorrow, but this is weird. It's like the car's computer is restricting the power/revving and I don't know how to reset it.
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