Electrical Issue: Battery or Alternator or ...?

So today I was driving to Hornell from my house which about an hour drive. As soon as I got in the middle of Hornell I started smelling a burnt smell like electrical and I thought that it may have been the car ahead of me so I ignored it for a while then the car ahead turned and I could still smell it. I kept an eye on my gauges but then I looked at my turbo timer and it was reading 12.4V when it normally reads about 14.4V give or take a some. I remembered when I was leaving home I looked at the Turbo timer and it was registering 16.1V and I thought that was a little bit high but I had also just jumped the car because the battery was completely dead. So back to the 12.4V, I then noticed the battery light and the brake light came on and they wouldn't go out. So I pulled over but didn't dare to turn off the car w/ fear that it wouldn't start back up so I popped the hood to see if maybe something had come loose and everything looked fine. I was taking a buddy of mine up there to look at some new cars and when we got to the dealer we turned the car off and it started right back up w/ no problems. We drove it to another dealership after that and again it started right back up. We kept an eye on the voltage and over a little bit of time it dropped to about 12.2V and so we decided to get on the high way and attempt the ride home. We got almost all the way home and the 2 lights that were on went out but the voltage had dropped to about 12.1V and still running fine. I got home w/ no problem and now I am just wondering what the problem is w/ the car. What do you guys think?

Were your lights on when the voltage was dropping? I would take the car by advance or something and see if they can test the battery and alternator.

I noticed if I turned on and off the heater blower motor the voltage would move up and down by .2V-.3V. I'll take it to them in the next couple days, it's hard finding time cause today is already shot.

I would think its the alternator going out. I would watch the voltage carefully while driving it to make sure it doesn't die on you.

Did you just jump the car and go, or fully recharge the battery back to it's prime state and then go? Alternators do not fully charge a battery, they simply support the battery when it cannot cover for the large draws that some of the electrical components take. I would try fully charging the battery and see if that takes care of it.

I did a jump and go. Why would I smell the burning? and the 2 dash lights? and the low voltage? I thought that the 16V was way too high, do you think I may have burned up the alternator?

Does it matter what size the battery was of the car that jumped you? What car jumped you?

Does it matter what size the battery was of the car that jumped you? What car jumped you?

No it doesn't because all (for the most part) cars put out the same amount of power. That's why radios, lights, pretty much anything is universal across the board for cars.

That's a weird issue though.

Well a four banger will have a hell of a time to trying to jump a dead 8 cylinder. When I tried to jump my dad, i had a new battery and terminals with a new alt belt. I couldn't get that thing to come on. But my brother's 6 cylinder with a bad battery cranked it right up. :confused:

I don't see how you could've burned up the alternator, but it sure is possible. Like I said, try charging the battery to full charge and see if that fixes some of your weird issues. Weird things happen when battery voltage isn't correct, which may be why you had some of those things happen.

Joe, the battery size nor engine size really doesn't matter. I think you may have just had a bad connection or something when you tried to jump with your car. I've jumped my pickup a few times with the Eclipse back when it was my DD and it worked just fine.

Also the fact that he sat there charging it for a while and then hooked another car up afterward may have just been a total coincident that it would start right up. You charged it just barely enough, and the other car pushed it over.

May have been, but I was like, "shit! why didn't my car make it." Maybe just coincidence (spelling.)

A couple other things that may help w/ the weird issue I am having. When I first left the house I noticed that the ABS light came on for about a quarter mile until I had to put on the brakes then the light went out. Thought that was weird but was like what ever maybe I went over some bumps and it through the ABS light idk. Well about another mile down the road I noticed the temp gauge was a little higher than normal, like around 3/4 then it came back down and that's where it sat the rest of the trip. A couple miles later is where I noticed the super high 16V and was like WOW that's not right and thought well I just jumped the car and maybe it was just THAT low. Again just went on my way. Do you guys think all of these things are linked? Maybe a wire issue? I've never had a problem w/ my brakes before nor my temp before and for both of them to have "issues" in the same day as everything else? Tomorrow I'll take the car to advanced that is if the car starts in the morning. I work from 9-8 tomorrow and the same hours through saturday, so I will need to get down there on my lunch break.

Going tomorrow to Advanced!!! Now tonight when I was checking out the alternator I found a small RED wire hanging out of the alternator. It was about 1.5 inches long and it was just hanging there. It was just the insulator not the copper part. Also when I look inside the alternator the copper parts inside look black like something burned onto it, and the fins inside look darker than normal. This alternator is near new, it was put on not even a week before I bought the car back in October and I haven't even put 600 miles on it yet. Any suggestions?? I can't seem to find where the wire may have come from, does anyone know of a red wire in the area of the alternator?

Replaced the battery and the alternator and that seemed to fix the charging issues. When I first start the car the TT shows 4.2V-4.3V and after driving the car for 20-30 minutes the TT starts showing usually around 13.8V. But when I restart the car the Volts go back up to 14.2V?????? Does this make any sense? What would cause this?

Come on guys help....please

It may be your TT, how long have you had it?

Came with the car, I doubt that it's the TT because it just displays the current voltage, there's really nothing to fail.

I don't see why it would read correctly the second time you start up then.

Very similar problems. Electrical failures for many years where the dealership has done everything from replace the battery (several times), alternator, disconnected Lo-Jack system, replaced transmission (yes, they said the electrical system in the transmission was causing the failures). Car is now out of warranty, and even Chrysler wants nothing to do with it.

Typically, one or more dashboard icons will illuminate. The car will start to lose power, and it becomes difficult for the electric window to close (no it's not the motor -- they've been replaced too!). The mechanics all want to go to the particular icon that is lit, or start by replacing the battery.

Finally, the last time I was at a new (different) dealership (original dealer won't look at it anymore) and they did all the same old stuff, down to replacing the battery. As I was leaving the shop, the battery icon came on and I made them test it as I watched. During several start-ups and shutdowns, the dashboard started lighting up like a pinball machine. They tested at the battery posts and watched as the voltage dropped from 13.9 to just over 5. It's not the alternator or the battery, but apparently some major power draw that intermitently happens. This virtually drains the battery to zero, where often it won't even charge unless you do a full overnight. There is some wiring issue in these cars, and since I've read two very similar problems on this site, has anyone encountered these issues and had them corrected?
:banghead: