Alternator keeps dying

Asked by Momof9 Mar 25, 2016 at 10:58 AM about the 2003 Dodge Neon

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Alternator was replaced about 2 years ago
but then 2 weeks ago she was losing
power as she drove.  My daughter pulled
off the road just in time because she lost all
power.  A jump got her to a place for
repairs.  The alternator couldn't be rebuilt
so it was replaced.  2 weeks later she
traveled 2 hours away and the same thing
happened.  She got a jump and made it a
few hundred feet before it died again.  We
had it towed to a random shop not
knowing  anything that far away.  They
want to charge $129 just to look at it!
Starting to wonder if it's fixable and hoping
to have a clue when they call with an
estimate.  She only has a part time
minimum wage job and still owes for the
repair 2 weeks ago.  We can't afford to be
taken advantage of.

2 Answers

220,505

About the only thing I can think of would be that the battery may have a short in it, or something wrong with it to cause the alternator to be charging or working so hard. Low and bad batteries can cause premature alternator failure.

10

Yes check have your battery tested for free a lot of auto parts stores test for free and alternaters also. Also I would check ground wires and loose fuses and to throw it out there if all else fails buy a used computer/ ecm could be shorting out in that part of the system

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