Electrical maybe alternator? Or battery?

Asked by Jules Sep 19, 2013 at 10:30 PM about the 1999 Hyundai Accent L 2-Door Hatchback FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My battery and emergency brake lights came on but only dimly lit, then the stereo
started turning on and off, then the lights and signals started blinking really fast, then I
lost power steering and the car died. Cleaned off the battery post which had a fair
amount of battery acid on it and recharged the battery. Car ran for two days no
problems and suddenly again  all the same problems showed up. Checked the water in
the battery, everything is good. So now im looking into alternator problems, everything
looks connected fine. I just replaced the alternator in January of 2012 so just over a
year and a half ago. Does anyone know if this sounds like an alternator problem or just
an electrical problem? -Thanks Jules.

2 Answers

The battery is like asking your grandpa to take your barbell collection to the attic...in short these days batteries have NO LEAD, but tin/antimony alloy..and only last around five years before they stop accepting a charge....10% per year is what the Engineers say...so get a NEW battery...when you do grab a coarse wirebrush and take off the lug at the end of the black cable, the one that attaches to the fender/ground/chassis and wirebrush that spot too...till shiny and happy to take on a 300 amp connection...more amps = fatter wires...else the wire will start welding and turn red setting everything on fire~! so clean the cable end to the chassis...this will restore grounding to the fuel pump, the ignition and the ECU~

7 people found this helpful.

Definitely the alternator, mine is a 2016 but I seem to have a problem with them replaced it 3 times after 150k the replacements were carquest refurb maybe that’s why but not sure and no obvious electrical issues.

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