The week my car battery died three times in a row (like, really died)

Last Tuesday I jumped my car in the parking lot of a Walmart in Phoenix, then again on Wednesday at my own driveway, and by Thursday it was totally dead outside a taco joint I love. Turns out my alternator was slowly giving up, but my mechanic laughed and said 'you should have noticed the flickering dash lights, dude' (which I totally did, but ignored). Has anyone else had that moment where a small sign turns into a full blown disaster? Let me know if your car did something similar.

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_burns1mo ago

Did you ever notice a weird whining sound when you hit the gas? That's what mine did before my alternator totally gave out on the 405 freeway in LA. I sat there for an hour with no AC in July watching the battery light slowly fade. Flickering dash lights are one of those things you convince yourself is just a loose wire or the sun hitting the dash weird. But yeah, like your mechanic said, it's basically the car screaming at you before it goes completely silent.

the_jennifer1mo ago

That "battery light slowly fading" part stuck with me. When yours went out did the car just die completely or did it start running rough first? Mine did this thing where it would sputter for like a minute then just shut off. Another thing I noticed was the headlights getting dimmer when I was stopped at a light then brightening up again when I hit the gas. That's a dead giveaway the alternator is on its last legs. Did you ever check the voltage before it finally gave out or were you just hoping for the best like most of us do?

vera_johnson91mo ago

Always check the ground strap before you replace the whole alternator, @miles_burns. That whining sound and the dimming lights I had the same thing, then a buddy pointed out a corroded ground strap was the real problem instead of the alternator itself. Cleaned it up and the car ran fine for another 20k miles.