Friday I was the victim of a hit and run in my '99 Alero
(86k miles, original owner) - lots of cosmetic damage to front passenger
side. Monday took to insurance adjusters and they estimated damage a
$2700, so I got a check for $2200 after they took of my deductible.



On the way home from the adjusters the battery warning light came on.
Drove it home and as I drove more and more warning lights started coming
on. When I got home and turned it off and tried to restart it, the
battery was DEAD. Jumped it and it ran, but gauges and clock were
flickering and lots of warning lights came on. Put battery charger on it
for a few hours. Started up and ran for about 1/2 a minute before the
battery light came on. Put a voltmeter between the one wire coming off
the alternator and the neg. terminal of the battery: It read 12.06 V with
engine off and 11.91 V with engine on. The battery is less than 1 year
old. Any ideas what could be causing this problem? Voltage
regulator?



This car has been great to us and I want to fix it, but don't want to spend any
more $$$ than the insurance check because my wife have 5 month old twins that
just started daycare so we are super-poor right now! If we take it to a
shop I am worried we will end up owing money, but if I can fix the charging
problem then the rest the repairs should be unbolting smashed parts and bolting
on un-smashed ones - definitely something I can do myself. Any help is
much appreciated!



Thanks,

Jim

try checking out all your main ground and positive connections to and from your battry and alternator, its a long shot but its deffinitaly worth a look. if its not that im not too sure what else to suggest, perhaps the computer got knocked a bit too hard...

Sounds like your alternator is dead. The voltage should be around 13.8 with the car running. An Autozone (and some other parts stores) can check the alternator for free if you can get it to them (remove it from the car, they test on a test bench inside the store).


The computer in my 2001 is located about where the drivers left knee is, under the dash. It looks like a silver book, about 6 inches by 8 inches, and has lots of wires connecting to it. Make sure those didn't get knocked loose.


I would get the battery problem fixed first, since the computers are sensitive to the voltage they get, and a low battery can cause them to think there are other problems that don't really exist.