EMERGENCY--Car died and is sitting on side of freeway

[maxash0775]

Happy Thanks Giving all. I need assistance in a bad way. Here is the situation.

I have had my car 6 months now with no issues. Today I took the 90 mile drive to my inlaws to bring them back to my house for thanks giving. On my way back over the grapevine (steep mountain, if you live in so cal you know it) my radio died out of no where, ten it blinked in and out and my antenna was going up and down with it. i took off my face plate hoping (knowing it wasnt ) an isolated incident. A few minuted later the (anti lock) light came on, now I new I was in trouble and still had 70 miles to go. Then the big one, the headlights started dimming and the car lost power. I coasted a few miles in the shoulder dodging other cars that had broken down.

When I stopped i turned on the hazards and there was a clicking comming from the belt area of the engine. I checked all belts and they appeared fine, nothing loose or broken (late and dark on cell phone as light and not a smart phone type flashlight). The light were going dimmer at this point so I decided to disconnect battery to see if the clicking noise would go away and see if it would reset what ever was wrong and maybe get me out of the dark, cold and scary mountain.

Money being what it is, I didnt want to tow it as it would be over $200 which is probably more than the issue is to fix it so my baby sits on the side of the freeway tonight in the cold.

Please tell me someone knows what this is and that it is relatively easy to fix. If someone know and want to help, they can call or text me at 818-294-2450 so I can get this resolved quicker.

Thanks and enjoy the turkey

 

[Lucas03ES]

Definitely sounds like an alternator to me.

 

[maxash0775]

One more thing to add. Car wont turn over at all. The light will come on a little but wont crank.

 

[Lucas03ES]

Most likely because your battery is dead. The alternator fubared and the car ran off of your batteries reserves until it was also dead. ABS and brake lights are a classic sign of alternator failure. These cars and dsm's alike tend to mow through them, especially if they are a parts store rebuild. However, they have lifetime warranties most of the time. Shouldn't be too hard of a swap, and make sure your battery is charged up when you get it all back together. Good luck.

 

[Brunoboy]

i texted you, i know Grape Vine all to well and wouldnt like being in there at night. It is your alternator for sure. Lucas is right, it ran off the battery because the alt stopped charging it. Call a tow truck, whatever it cost is a lot better than being stuck in the Grape Vine at night.
-Shane

 

[JDM_DSM]

Almost certainly an alternator. Though it's always possible it could be a fusible link, or a loose connection on the alternator.

Depending on how far you are from your house, if you can borrow a charged battery, or charge yours up you might be able to drive it back just on battery power. I've done that a couple times now. The last time I did it I made it about 30 km on a charge.

EDIT: Just noticed you're still 70 miles from home. So I guess if you could get your hands on 4 good batteries you could skip the tow truck...

 

[maxash0775]

I want to thank everyone for there input on this very stressful situation given when and where it happened. This is why this is the best community of car enthusiast out there. Thanks again. Special shout out to brunoboy for the texting me and respoding when I bothered him on this sacred family ( and football) day.

Good news, thanks to my local 24 hour walmart which was opened on thanksgiving I was able to pick up a new battery. I swapped out battery and she started right up. I immediately drove off ensuring all acc. Were off and didnt even crack a window for fear of drawing power from the battery. I made it 72 miles home. After parking I was brave enough to try acc. And I turned them ALL on. Ran for a fw minutes and it was good then I did the "test". Turned off all acc. again and removed the negative battery cable and she shut off. Now I am pretty convinced it is the alternator. Is there any suggestions on the best alternator. With my last alternator the headlights dimmed when I rolled the windows up and down and when I try 2 windows they crawl up. So what alternator guys?

Have a great turkey day and thanks again.

 

[turbowop]

I'm a fan of Bosch "new" alternators for our cars. Better than parts store alts and you get 2yr roadside assistance warranty with it.

 

[FlyingEagle]

Glad you got it figured, but I must caution that pulling any battery cable off the battery when running, or with accessories on/ignition on, can and will cause a voltage spike.
ECU's do not like excessive voltage. Again, happy to hear you guys made it home. I had the same issue, but it was sketchy short brushes that touched just enough to keep the lights off except for a 5 of my 15 minutes of driving to work. Do you also have the stock shields over your exhaust by chance? Mainly the turbo area.

 

[mistaVR4]

Alternators are the most notorious failure these cars have (located so close to the hottest heat sources in our engine bay), as well as DSM's, here is what will solve that problem for you, unless you want to keep your A/C?

Alt relocation

-Steve

 

[maxash0775]

Hey guys. Here is another symptom. I dismissed it at first because that night my mother in law had some food in the back seat and I thought something spilled causing a "FISHY SMELL". After further inspection the smell is coming from the passengers side area were no food ws. Then I remembered reading somewhere here that when the ECM goes bad it makes a fishy like smell. Is that true. Could this also be behind the alternator problem. I was trying to wait till my bonus to get the ECM fixed but I dont think it can wait. Any one have any input?

Thanks again

 

[citymunky]

Yes if the ECU capacitor blow and release acid on the circuit board, it been said it to have a fishy smell.

 

[citymunky]

Yes if the ECU capacitor blow and release acid on the circuit board, it been said it to have a fishy smell.

https://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=newbie&Number=34701&page=0&fpart=1

 

[Terry Posten]

It won't damage the alt but it will cause you a major headache and a lot more money if you don't get the ECU fixed now..

Let's hope the damage as not already been done.