3 days ago my car wouldnt start. I had it jumped, the postive terminal was soaked with acid and had enough corosion for 5 cars on it went to advance and got a new battery. It drove fine all day. Didnt drive it yesterday and then today the car would not start again. It would turn over but not start and there was acid leaking out of the positive terminal again. I took the new battery back, they ran a test on it and it said the battery was bad. So I bought an Optima battery, brought it home and car still wont start. When it turns over it is making a high pitched whine kind of and sounds like a wheezing after the key is turned off, almost like its coming from the alternator maybe. I checked the fuse and it seems fine. I just had the alternator put on in Feburary. Any idea on what it could be?

 

probably bad alternator. was it a remanufactured alternator?

 

It is your alternator, most likely it's faulty and maybe you can get a replacement if it had a warranty.

 

No, I bought it from someone on here used... FRICK! I will talk to him and see what he says.

 

If you do get a new one, I would stay away from the remanufactured ones from advance or other auto parts stores. Even though they do have a warrenty, they do not last as long as OEM. It gets very bothersome having to replace them....

OEM is the way to go.

 

Hard to be sure from the description.

1 - One possibility is the engine is flooded and the lack of compression can cause a wheezy/whiny sound.

2 - My other guess would be the starter was not engaging. First thing I'd check is to remove the battery clamps and make sure the insides were clean and bright; could still be corrosion from before. Also check condition of the cables where they attach to the clamps. If that check out ok, your new battery might just need a charge. Put it on a charger, or have the car jumped again and take it for a nice long highway drive, which will charge it.

Observe the alternator pulley while someone cranks the car. If it rotates, then it's not #2 and you should proceed with de-flooding procedures.

Oh, just for grins, make sure the + and - posts are going to the right cables!

 

He is going to replace the alternator for me

 

Great, hope that fixes it for you Flea; although I didn't think the alternator was part of the starting circuit. From info you gave, overcharging might explain the first two battery problems, but would not seem to explain the third. But your mech is a lot closer to the car than me!

 

Well its def not flooded. Do you think it could be the starter? If so though, why would the alternator be making a sound? Could it also be a possibility that I need to have the alternator pulley torked? When he guy put it on he said I needed to have it tightened but when I asked someone else they said that didnt make sense.
Im getting power from the battery so I know its not dead. I may try to go get new connectors and see if that helps, my positive is in pretty bad shape form all the acid that leaked out of the 1st 2 batteries.

 

Diagnosing a sound via text is tough

If it's really the alternator making a sound durng start, then I'm at a loss; I've never run into that. Loose pulley? Maybe, but starting is such a low rpm event. I'd suspect a problem there would be much more evident when running. And I'd suspect the pulley would tighten in the direction of rotation anyway (guessing).

If the belt is loose it could make a noise. In which case "tightening the alternator" means loosening the mounting bolt, moving the alternator to increase the belt tension, then retightening the bolt. Your mechanic should have already ruled that out though. Check the alternator belt. If it looks beat-up, has cracks, or a glazed appearance then it should be replaced and the new belt properly tensioned.

Again, overcharging by the alternator (actually the voltage regulator in the alternator) is a possibility. This can cause electrolyte in the battery to "boil", and acid on top of the battery is a symptom of that. The optima doesn't have free liquid electrolyte and won't show this symptom, though it would get ruined just the same. The alternator output is an easy thing for mechanic to check with a running engine. It's not a direct cause of failure to start except in context of a battery which has been already weakened by overcharging.

If the starter solenoid does not engage, then you will hear a higher pitched sound than normal as the starter turns against no resistance, and a "whirr" after you turn off the key as the starter motor takes a couple of seconds to spin down. Failure to engage has several possible causes. Bad gear teeth on the flywheel or starter, bad solenoid, or simply insufficient electrical power (weak battery or bad connections). Given your history the last one seemed the most likely. Just seems unlikely that you'd develop a battery problem AND a solenoid problem at the same time.

If the starter solenoid is not engaging, then the engine and alternator pulleys will not move at all while you crank, and so this is easy to confirm or refute.

You say the engine is definitely not flooded. How do you know? Did you get it to start?

 

Whould the high pitched sound and whirr from the starter come from the starter itself or would it sound like it where coming from the top of the engine? The starter is under the car by the tranny right? That sounds to me like what your talking about but the sound didnt seem like it was coming from there. I have been worried for a while that I may need to replace the starter soon but assumed it was the battery instead.
The battery thing you said makes sense too like it is boiling out. Once I tried starting the car with the optima I disconnected the negative terminal so as not to ruin the optima battery until I could figure out whats wrong.
I dont know for certain the engine is not flooded at this point, I was just saying with the acid coming out and the sounds I was hearing I didnt think it would be from flooding. I have had to deflood my 7 and my 8 several times and I am having a totally different experience. Im going to try to take the alterntor to advance today to have it tested, hopefully it is the voltage regulator. I have another one on the way along with coils for my 7 so maybe I can get one of these $#%$# cars to run for me! I start a new job Monday and I can see where my first paycheck will be going, I thought I was high mantainence!

 

The noise I'm talking about would be the starter, but it's not always easy to know where a noise is originating. I've never heard an alternator make much noise but I'm sure it's possible; it does have bearings and moving parts after all, and who knows what sort of electrical noises it might come up with....

 

Flooded ......................................... badly .

Try a pull start .

 

Get everything worked out Flea?

 

Hell no... I put the new alternator on along with new terminals and the car still fried the new optima battery! Of course I took it back and they replaced it as well but my boyfriend brought home the new one and put it in the car against my will saying he thinks it will work this time... So Im sure the 4th battery of the week is now fried because Mr. impatient couldnt wait for me to see what else may be wrong!
I can understand why it would seem to be the starter or flooded but why would 3 batteries be fried in one week with 2 different alternators?!
I am so about to set fire to this car! I am starting a new job Monday, have 2 cars that wont start and Im a hormonal pregzilla!!

 

check the engine harness. I never touch my harness and it just short itself for no reason.

it didnt fried my battery, it fried my solenoids tho. and its very "undetectable" unless you have the right tool(and time)

 

Will do.. and what tool would I need to see if it has shorted itself out? Is it hard to fix or is that something I should just let someone else look at?

 

Do you have an ammeter to measure charging current ?
I haven't looked - but it may be possible to wire up the alternator wrong .
Something sure is screwy for you to fry all those batteries -

 

well, I didnt check it myself, I didnt even know it has a problem. Kevin @ wayne Mazda found the problem for me. Replaced it under warranty.

the harness alone cost like 800-900 bux if u buy new.

so if u have a good dealership who knows what they're doing. bring it in and ask them what the hell is going on. (its really hard to find a good dealership I know, like me, all dealerships in NYC suck ***, only good one is Wayne, in NJ )

 

was going to suggest you take it to an automotive electrician ....


NOT a dealer .... they know jack about this sort of thing .

 

Have you actually had it going or have you managed to fry the batteries without even starting it ?

 

find a dealer who knows what they're doing.

thats how Wayne Mazda found there is a short in my engine harness ... they have someone who knows what he is doing

or just find automotive electrician ... but I will say its gonna be as hard as finding a good dealer.