If your battery keeps dying or instrument panel lights begin flickering, this could indicate an alternator problem. Seeking assistance from Foreign Car Specialists serving Poughkeepsie can save time and money.
Ron’s Auto Electric in Bullville provides starter, generator, and alternator repairs and rebuilds for cars, light trucks, heavy equipment, and marine vehicles in Orange County, Pine Bush Middletown, and surrounding areas.
Dead Battery
Car batteries provide power to run accessories like radios or headlights. Once dead, however, batteries no longer have enough amp-hour capacity to start the engine properly but may still provide enough juice to run accessories that require less juice – including radios and headlights.
Car batteries that suddenly die while driving often indicate an issue in the charging system, most often caused by the alternator or its belts and tensioners failing. An ineffective alternator may cause the battery to drain abnormally, leading to its ultimate demise and creating other issues in your vehicle’s systems.
An additional cause of dead batteries is using power-hungry accessories, like leaving lights or heaters running while driving – leaving lights or heaters running while going will drain a battery significantly and should, therefore, be switched off when not driving to protect your car’s battery from further drain, make sure that you can jump-start it if your lights do remain illuminated!
Corroded or poor battery connections could also be to blame for your dead battery. If this occurs, use baking soda, water, or automobile-grade lubricant to clean them off immediately.
Overcharging can also contribute to battery damage; this occurs when an alternator produces electricity faster than it can be dissipated from the battery, creating excess hydrogen gases that build up within it, shortening its lifespan and potentially harming it permanently.
Extreme heat can also damage a battery, prompting its premature failure and necessitating its storage in an ideal, excellent, dry location when not in use. Therefore, car batteries must be placed in their proper storage position in a perfect, dry area when not being used.
No one-size-fits-all approach exists regarding car batteries, but with these simple steps, you can keep yours alive for as long as possible. However, if yours has become dead, don’t hesitate to visit a local auto service shop for help immediately.
Flickering Lights
Flickering lights indicate something is amiss with your home’s electrical system, whether wiring issues or short-circuiting. To successfully remedy the situation safely and effectively. The source must be identified to enable repairs to begin immediately.
If lights only flicker when turning on certain appliances, this could indicate an overload in your electrical circuit. Large appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, and washers draw significant amounts of electricity when starting up, which may overburden specific circuits and strain your power source. An electrician should be able to help determine which courses have become overloaded and make any necessary repairs.
Another possible issue could be voltage fluctuation in your household electrical system. While minor changes are expected, an overload could damage electronic devices or cause fires. A voltmeter can be found at most hardware stores to check your house voltage; if its reading indicates high or low readings, it is time to contact an electrician for repairs.
Thirdly, a power company’s line could be to blame – especially in neighborhoods with one transformer. When multiple people use electricity at once, the voltage in the pipes drops precipitously, causing your lights to flicker and flicker even more than they should.
Loose or damaged wiring poses a severe safety risk that should not be ignored. If this occurs in your home, hire an electrician immediately to replace all wires, breakers, and switches that have become disconnected to prevent shock or fires arising from such wiring failure. It would also be wise to have your home’s electricity upgraded regularly.
Loud Noises
Your vehicle’s alternator provides an electrical current to power all the electronics in your car while it runs and recharges its battery. When something goes amiss with this part, lights may flicker or dim, and you may experience difficulty starting your engine.
If you turn on your radio or light and hear strange grinding or whirring sounds from your alternator, this could be due to damaged parts within. When bearings wear out and cannot function as intended, loud noises may result. To identify and address potential problems before they cause further damage to the system. An alternator test should be conducted to determine and remedy the issue immediately.
Before starting to work on your alternator, you must disconnect the battery from your vehicle. Although this step should not be overlooked, if not careful, it could result in severe consequences; accidentally grounding live wires when disconnected could cause significant harm, including your wiring harness or computer/stereo systems.
Once your battery has been disconnected, you can remove and install a new alternator in your car. If doing it yourself, be sure to read up on all relevant manuals for your specific year, make, and model to ensure everything goes according to plan – also, adhere to all safety instructions when working with electrical systems in cars.
Once finished, taking your car for a test drive is advisable to ensure everything functions as intended. If something doesn’t seem right, it could be because your new alternator isn’t producing enough power to support all of its accessories and electronics; should this be the case, a second rebuilt alternator could cost as little or even less than its cost to fix the original one.
Ron’s Auto Electric has long been trusted by mechanics and do-it-yourselfers from Orange County, Bullville, Pine Bush & Middletown, NY, to diagnose, repair and replace their alternators. Their highly experienced technicians specialize in alternator replacement and starters & generator repairs, so visit or call today.
Dead Engine
Car batteries and electrical systems work together seamlessly for optimal vehicle performance, yet even one compromised component could prove catastrophic to its overall operation.
If your engine does not start, your battery may not have enough juice to power accessories and recharge the alternator. This could be caused by simple user errors such as leaving overhead lights on or using too much accessory power for short drives.
Pilots of multi-engine airplanes know that when one engine dies, it causes the aircraft to yaw in its direction of failure and requires them to apply pressure to maintain control. To keep coordinated flight paths and stay coordinated during engine failures, this phenomenon known as the “dead foot-dead engine phenomenon” must be dealt with swiftly and firmly by pushing hard on the opposite rudder pedal.
