Hey everybody,

I've done a search on here for an issue that is like mine but didn't find it.

I have a 1998 Z28 Camaro with 70,000 or so miles on it. A week or so ago, I went out to start my car. It started but the dash lights were dim and the "Check gauges" light was on. Ok so I'm thinking alternator issues. So, a week later I bring the car over to my dad's house...my wife and I had to charge the car twice to get it over here.

So this morning I pull the old alternator out...put a new one in. So we are charging the car with some jumper cables and I tell my dad it will take about 15 minutes to get the car charged enough to start. He wants to try his battery out of his 1991 GMC sonoma so we don't have to wait that long. So we put that one on and start it. Like a minute after we start it the car starts revving up and down on it's own. I turn the car off and put my battery back in and charge it....Oh yeah the Check gauges light is off now...The car finally starts. It runs for a couple of minutes and then starts chugging like something is wrong. Then the car just dies. So, we charge it up again and it starts but then after a couple of minutes the car just dies again.

Oh yeah...the security light and Airbag light wouldn't go off either.

What is going on? Is there something I'm missing? The alternator light isn't on so the alternator is charging. The car runs until it runs off all the power in the battery...but then it dies.



Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Israel Contreras
Fort Worth, Texas

 

ok...here's some more information.

I've been messing with it a little bit. My dad and I have tried to jump it some more. While it is hooked up, the alternator gauge is up high enough to be good. But as soon as we unhook the jumper cables the alternator gauge drops to zero.

Is there some kind of relay or computer reset button that we need to push in order for everything to work correctly? I'm fairly certain I hooked up everything the way it is supposed to be hooked up.

The funny thing is is that the "Check gauge" light doesn't come on anymore.

 

Sounds like you hooked a new alternator up to a fully discharged battery. Bad idea, probably blew the rectifier out of your new alternator. If the alt was a rebuild from AutoZone or Advance it was probably junky out of the box anyway...do a search in the right forum (this really isn't an internal engine problem) and you'll see plenty of frustrated buyers.

Take the alt and the batt to the parts store and have both tested. They should be able to charge the batt for you before load-testing it, will take a few hours so be prepared to drop them off and come back later.

Let us know the results. Next time, charge the batt first.

 

Did you test the original alt. to see if was bad? also make sure that the line going into the alt. hasnt been cut or chewed up anywhere. Mine stoped charging thought it was a bad alt. ended up tracing back the line and found a bad spot. So it just wasnt getting the signal to charge back up. As for all your crazy electrical issues, check your grounds. One lose ground will make your whole system go haywire.