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.

223,905

Rowefast answered 8 years ago

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.

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anthony8109 answered 8 years ago

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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