My 2008 Evo has been sitting for a couple weeks. I have a work car and went a few weekend trips so i didn't have time to drive it. When I tried starting it today it was dead. I jump started the car and took it for a test drive. Nothing noticeable. I disconnected the battery while the car was running and the car's electronics started dimming which lead me to believe it was the alternator.

1. Aside from taking the alternator off and having it tested (which looks like a pain in the ***) is there a way to have it check?

2. My car has approx 5,000 miles on it, does it seem weird that the alternator is going so soon?

3. Is this a job covered under warranty? Is this a job that can easily be done myself? I ask because I would have to take a day off work to get it fixed at the dealer versus doing it on a Saturday myself.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: sorry if this should have been in the electronics forum. mod, feel free to move this.

 

I'm guessing it's a battery issue, not the alternator. Get your battery tested, pretty much any auto parts store, shop, or dealership can take care of this for you on the car for free of charge. A 3 year old battery going dead after sitting for a few weeks is not uncommon though, if you plan to regularly let your car sit so long between use you should invest in a trickle charger to keep your battery fresh.

 

I will get the battery checked but it still doesn't explain why the car lights were dimming and flickering when I disconnected the battery.

Thanks for the speedy response!

 

The car's electrical system is designed to have a battery in place with proper grounding. Removing another key grounding point could also have the same effect.

 

So I took the car to Autozone. The checked everything. From their tests, they found that the alternator and battery were alright. The battery was only at about 13% charge. Its is a 2 year old Optima battery. Autozone felt that there is an electrical issue somewhere in the car.

Thoughts?

 

Optimas seems to have a very high failure rate for some reason. What happened to the OEM battery? Again, batteries do not like sitting for extended periods of time, if you're leaving the car for more than a week or two disconnect the battery and throw a trickle charger on it.

 

The OEM battery failed and the dealership replaced it with a red top optima. It was free of course so i wasn't complaining. I have a trickle charger, would the optima be alright to put on the charger? I read that once an optima dies it pretty much is trash, any truth in that claim?

thanks