alternator or battery

[SAM MCBRIDE]

Hi yesterday i drove my car an Auris SR180  to the Supermarket 15 miles away did my shopping came out and the batery failed to srart my car and just died my son in law came and jump started the car i then drove home switched of the car and tried to restart it again the batery died do i need a new Battery or a new alternator.

Sam

[flash22]

You need to test both, but i would suspect both if the Battery hasn't been replaced

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Auris club.

[SAM MCBRIDE]

but would the alternator just stop working like that no warning light nothing and this car has warning lights for everything including if you look at it the wrong way

[MagicBoy]

Both need testing. If it made it 15 miles home after a jump start then odds are it's the Battery, otherwise it'd have conked out again.

[SAM MCBRIDE]

thanks for that MagicBoy

sam

[Mooly]

The symptom of OK when you drove there and then failing to start the car a little while later points to the Battery rather than the alternator. The alternator must be working to power it all up when you drove home.

If the Battery was good (hypothetically... I don't think it is) then a 15 mile drive would put significant charge back into it and you couldn't just dump that charge back into a faulty alternator without seeing other distressing signs such as lots of heat generation (smoke, smell of burning etc).

Sounds like Battery to me as well. It is a common failure mode, good one minute and zonked the next.

 

 

 

[mrpj]

If you can get hold of a multimeter, doesn't have to be a fancy one, set to d.c. volts (e.g. 20v) a rough and ready test of the charging state may be determined. With the engine running touch the Battery terminals with the meter probes. If it indicates above 14volts  then there's a good chance the alternator is charging the Battery.

[SAM MCBRIDE]

thanx to everyone who replied to this and hooray it was the Battery thats £60 and fitted well spent

Sam

[Mooly]

That's good to know 🙂