YACT: What does it mean when this happens?

[radioouman]

Originally posted by: virtueixi

Originally posted by: Tweak155

Originally posted by: murphy55d
ended up being a bad battery. got it replaced. thx for the advice all.

i dont know how stalling can be related to a bad battery...but i'll buy it i guess

The alternator is not meant to power the car by itself, in fact you could damage it running the car this way. However, if your battery was bad, how did you start the car in the 1st place? Did you jump it?

GM cars are the only ones that have alternators weak enough not to be able to power the car from the alternator alone

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: murphy55d

Originally posted by: Ornery

I'm still dying to hear how you were able to restart the car after it stalled. NOTHING sucks juice like a starter motor spinning the engine, and your "spent battery" was able to do it several times.

Could it be that a connection to your accessories was corroded or had a loose connection at the battery terminal? A connection that was made tight when the new battery was installed?

I have no idea. There was some corrosion on the red battery connector so maybe that played into it. When they hooked it up to their little tester machine both times it came back "Bad battery". Is there a difference between a bad battery and a spent battery? My old battery was an AC Delco, and has some kind of color-indicator on it. From what I understand, green means it is still good, and "clear" means the battery is dying/dead/needs changed. Mine was definitely not green, it was pretty colorless.[/quote]You are confirming that it DID start the car several times after it stalled? You didn't jump it?

If so, the battery may have been on its way out, but certainly wasn't dead. I'm leaning toward a bad connection somewhere in the battery's vacinity. Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense!

 

[murphy55d]

I never jumped the car, no. It always started up, though not always right away.

 

[Ornery]

Still a mystery AFAIC. Somebody is going to have to explain to me, how a 'dead' battery can spin the engine on a car... on several different occasions!

 

[GasX]

It means you need a new fetzer valve and your johnson rods need machining.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Still a mystery AFAIC. Somebody is going to have to explain to me, how a 'dead' battery can spin the engine on a car... on several different occasions!

beats me. all i know is my car functions properly now, and before it didnt.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
It means you need a new fetzer valve and your johnson rods need machining.

Oh I know my johnson rod needs machining, it's been a few months... but that's a whole different thread.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
never heard of a car that prevents braking if the engine isn't running. that wouldn't pass inspection in my state.

My '84 Dodge Caravan LE did that too. When the engine quit, I lost power to steering and brakes in the middle of an intersection. So.. I got to push my van out of the intersection while 20 cars in both directions waited for me. That wasnt fun...

 

[Shawn]

Weird. My car did that when my Mass Airflow Sensor became loose. Started, shut off, and a check engine light came on.

 

[iamwiz82]

I would guess exactly what Ornery did. The corrosion of the battery was causing the stalling, however the battery was still on it's way out.