I recently bought a gently used Pontiac Sunfire GT from a girl friend. She has been the sole owner for about 6 years and has kept meticulous records of maintenance and service, so I was confident that the car would be in good shape, despite the high mileage (260,000 km) which is mostly due to long highway commutes that she made to visit family several times a year.
On a recent trip, I stopped at a gas station to fill up and when I went to start the car again, my daytime running lights were stuck on, and when I tried to turn the headlights on, the dash lights would come on, but the daytime running light icon would stay on and the actual lights wouldn’t change. After checking the connections and fuses, I decided t wait until I got home to trouble shoot the issue, thinking it had to be an electrical issue since the high beams also worked still.
A little closer to home, I realized that my battery gauge was dropping extremely quickly. I turned off all non-essential equipment (fan, stereo, dash lights, headlights, etc) and tried to get as close to home as I could. Eventually it became apparent that I wouldn’t make it, so I pulled over. After trying to boost the car, the battery still wouldn’t charge and the alternator was whining. We replaced the alternator and installed a new battery. It started just fine, and when I turned on the headlights, that issue appeared to have been resolved as they were working again. It was ok to drive for about 10 minutes before the battery charge disappeared completely again. Even with the new battery and alternator, it wouldn’t recharge. I got it towed home, but am hesitant to start replacing anything else at this point until I have a better idea of what might be going wrong. The serpentine belt is in excellent condition and is installed properly. The headlights were new about a year ago, and have not had any problems until this week.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I would sincerely appreciate it as I am at a loss for what it could be.
On a recent trip, I stopped at a gas station to fill up and when I went to start the car again, my daytime running lights were stuck on, and when I tried to turn the headlights on, the dash lights would come on, but the daytime running light icon would stay on and the actual lights wouldn’t change. After checking the connections and fuses, I decided t wait until I got home to trouble shoot the issue, thinking it had to be an electrical issue since the high beams also worked still.
A little closer to home, I realized that my battery gauge was dropping extremely quickly. I turned off all non-essential equipment (fan, stereo, dash lights, headlights, etc) and tried to get as close to home as I could. Eventually it became apparent that I wouldn’t make it, so I pulled over. After trying to boost the car, the battery still wouldn’t charge and the alternator was whining. We replaced the alternator and installed a new battery. It started just fine, and when I turned on the headlights, that issue appeared to have been resolved as they were working again. It was ok to drive for about 10 minutes before the battery charge disappeared completely again. Even with the new battery and alternator, it wouldn’t recharge. I got it towed home, but am hesitant to start replacing anything else at this point until I have a better idea of what might be going wrong. The serpentine belt is in excellent condition and is installed properly. The headlights were new about a year ago, and have not had any problems until this week.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I would sincerely appreciate it as I am at a loss for what it could be.
Apr 2, 2008 at 12:06 PM