Car is dead (alternator?)

[Gage006]

I got off work last night, started up my car and noticed the lights were really dim. Battery gauge was reading right on 12. I shrug and rev it up and the needle didn't move one bit. I drive it around a bit, hoping I had just left a light on awhile and it drained it. Parked it for the night and went to bed.

Come out the next day, go to school with the needle sitting below 12 (10? 11?) but still running fine. I figure the gauge is going or something but that I'd be fine. I drive it back home with my girlfriend, same thing going on. I go to take her back to school and I stop at this light for awhile and the gauge is to the next slash (below 9?). I press the gas and it feels like i'm in neutral. I floor it and finally get to barely move.

I pull over to the side of the road and kill it. Won't start back up, sluggish turning over. I push it into a neighborhood and let it sit. Start it finally and it idles high for a big, then goes down, ides high, goes down, repeating.

I'm guessing either the alternator or the battery wires are dead but since I didn't have a multimeter handy I couldn't check. Any ideas on what to look for once I can get back out to my car?

[SilverMk2]

Do the charge and brake lights come on? If so the alternator is probably dead. If you want I've got an alternator at my place if you need one.

[Gage006]

Neither go on, that I remember. I might take you up on that though. Either that or I might use it as an excuse to go get a mk3 alt. I'll check on the lights tonight after work, gonna go back to there (10 miles away..ugh!) with a multimeter and do some looking.

[Dave A.]

The symptoms definitely sound like a bad alternator, but check the fusible links and fuses associated with the charging circuitry before completely condemning the alternator.

What brand and size battery do you have? Most batteries would go flat way before yours did. :)

[Gage006]

Not sure, it's just some junky battery that's been in there for at least the 2 years I've owned the car. How do I check the links? Gonna go there in a bit and do some testing.

[Gage006]

I've come to the conclusion that my car is possessed.

Went tonight to get it, tried to start it and it just chugged, wouldn't start. I hook up my Jeep to jump start it and I turn it over and it just clicks. Wait 5 minutes and it still just clicks. I get discouraged, unhook it, get ready to leave and decide to try one more time. Starts up this time. Same thing with the high idle, except it's not varying. It just sits at around 1500rpm. I also hear it idle and randomly makes a banging noise from what sounds like my transmission (which it has never done before).

I drive it home, the whole way my headlights and dash lights will randomly flicker on or off. If I stop at a stop light, I have to rev it up to 2k before the transmission JOLTS into place. It literally won't move until around 2k.

I'm not so sure it's the alternator anymore, but maybe a combination of things. Anything sound familiar?

[Dave A.]

Weird! Check and make sure that the battery terminals are clean and free of any corrosion build-up for starters. Then check the yellow fusible link that's in the black fusebox by the battery. You can check the link by removing it and using an ohmmeter to see if it's blown.

You say that the headlights and dash lights flicker. Do they go completely off and then come back on, or just go dim and then bright again? How about the windshield wipers? Do they act screwy or not work at all?

The jolting you describe sounds like a problem with the clutch not disengaging fully. Check for fluid leakage around the clutch master and slave cylinders.

[Gage006]

Cleaned off the battery terminal when I got home from work, a little bit had built up but not too much. The dash lights would go on and off and go dim, it was doing everything. Didn't even try the wipers.

I have an auto but i'll put it up on the stands are see if I can find any leaks. I looked last night and didn't see anything with the flashlight, but it was a bit dark.

[Gage006]

I made a video of what it's doing at idle. I really don't know what's going on or even where to start. It doesn't seem like the battery would still be alive (it's just a really cheap battery) if the laternator was still working. I replace the fusible links and drove it around the block with it acting the same. Not sure what to do now.

Here's the video though, you can see where my battery gauge has been sitting.
http://earlydisaster.mazdafc.com/effedup.mov

[Gage006]

Just took the alternator to Autozone to have them test it and it came back fine. Going to go take the battery now, buy a new one, drop it in and see if it works.

[Dave A.]

The low battery voltage might be keeping the trans. ECU and shift solenoids from working, or the trans. ECU may not be getting power. I forgot to mention the yellow fusible link that's on the positive battery cable inside the little black box that's on the cable. Check that link as well. In fact, check both of the fusible links on the positive battery cable. Pink and Yellow.

Also, check both the wipers and the tailights to see if they both work.