my car had a problem starting today....

both my alternator and starter are new however they are reman so at first i thought it was the starter until no matter how long it sat or i tapped on it the car wouldn't start.

the battery is in great shape and all my electrical was working but yet the car wouldn't turn over.

i jumped the battery just for the heck of it and i was able to start the car, yet when the car is running it runs very bad now and the battery guage dropped dramatically.....alot of hesitation and small backfire.

can a bad alternator cause this? car has been acting up on and off but it was running fine today until i shut it off.......once it did run it just wasn't the same and now i can't start it at all without jumping the battery??

any suggestions....

 

I would say get your battery tested, but before you do that, make sure your battery cables are tight. A loose cable can make a car act funny, and not want to start. Get your alternator tested too just to be on the safe side. Do you have VATS? The VATS module may not be receiving proper voltage, which can cause a situation like you described (I went through that in March). Give these things a quick lookover. Make sure your alternator is connected tightly, along with the starter. You said they were new, so maybe a cable there wasn't tightened down all the way. Hope that helps.

 

A failed rectifier in the alternator can discharge the battery, and can create electrical noise in the system that will "confuse" the ECM and cause poor running. You can test teh alternator output directly at the output stud with a voltmeter set on an AC Volts scale. Anything more than 0.20 VAC is a problem.

 

so if it is a problem then that means i just rebuild or replace the alternator right?

checked all the connections and they are clean and tight. battery works in another car without any problems.....

think it's the alternator? i'll check it with a meter.

 

If you measure more AC voltage than that, the alternator has a problem. Since it's "new", I would advise returning it.