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View Full Version : Car won't start..Alternator Problem? Help!!!


pghZHP
10-30-2013, 09:46 AM
Hey guys,

My ZHP has been pretty reliable over the past year of ownership up until today. Vehicle has 109k on it.

I drove my car last night and noticed the radio was acting strange (turned off once and volume kept jumping up and down.) It also seemed like the headlights were flickering. No dash lights etc. When I got out of my car in the garage, there was a faint electrical burning smell.

Fast forward to this morning. Hop in my car to leave for work, dome light doesn't turn on. Turn the key and the dash lights up for a moment and then dies. Car doesn't try even attempt to start or turn over. I am almost positive it's not simply a battery as I tried charging it for about an hour. Also, the battery is about 4 months old and is an OEM BMW battery.

How can I go about troubleshooting this? I believe it's the alternator. I have searched and read through many threads on here and E46F.

Thanks for everyones help!
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 09:56 AM
I did the battery test through the OBC and my battery is reading at 12.0
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 10:02 AM
It certainly could be the alternator. That doesn't explain why charging it didn't temporarily solve the problem though. I'm confused though when you first state:

Turn the key and the dash lights up for a moment and then dies.

But then you were able to read the voltage through OBC?
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 10:06 AM
It certainly could be the alternator. That doesn't explain why charging it didn't temporarily solve the problem though. I'm confused though when you first state:

Turn the key and the dash lights up for a moment and then dies.

But then you were able to read the voltage through OBC?

Thanks for quick reply.

When I got into my car this morning, I turned the key, the dash lit up for a moment and then died. That seemed to be due to my battery being completely discharged.

Following that, I used jumper cables for an hour or so. Still could not get the car to start, but it does have power throughout the vehicle now.
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 10:12 AM
Gotcha.

But the car won't start using the jumper cables?

If that's the case I would start looking for loose or corroded connections both on the battery and the other ends, positive where it connects to the starter and where negative attaches to chassis.
danewilson77
10-30-2013, 10:29 AM
Voltage regulator?

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 10:31 AM
Gotcha.

But the car won't start using the jumper cables?

If that's the case I would start looking for loose or corroded connections both on the battery and the other ends, positive where it connects to the starter and where negative attaches to chassis.

I'll check the connections and report back.
echo46
10-30-2013, 10:32 AM
I still think it is his alternator.
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 10:32 AM
Voltage regulator?

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

That crossed my mind as well. I'll try to figure out how to troubleshoot that.
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 10:37 AM
Just went out to my garage to start checking connections. Car is completely dead again. No power at all. I had charged the battery for an hour with jumper cables no more than 45 minutes ago...
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 10:38 AM
A bad voltage regulator or alternator will prevent the battery from getting charged but if you charge it with an external charger I don't think either would prevent the car from starting.
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 10:40 AM
Just went out to my garage to start checking connections. Car is completely dead again. No power at all. I had charged the battery for an hour with jumper cables no more than 45 minutes ago...

When you say you're charging it with jumper cables you're leaving the other car running for an hour?
danewilson77
10-30-2013, 10:41 AM
Jump box?

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 10:41 AM
When you say you're charging it with jumper cables you're leaving the other car running for an hour?

Yep.
echo46
10-30-2013, 11:29 AM
If the alternator is bad and you ran the battery to dead due to the bad alt, in addition to a new alternator you will need a new battery. Bad battery is not holding charge.
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 11:40 AM
Here's a short video of my car not starting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkAs59KiFXM&feature=youtu.be
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 11:42 AM
If the alternator is bad and you ran the battery to dead due to the bad alt, in addition to a new alternator you will need a new battery. Bad battery is not holding charge.

That's what I'm thinking too but I would have expected a relatively new OEM battery to be a bit more durable.

Then again a bad voltage regulator could have cooked it.
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 11:50 AM
When you had the battery connected to the other car with the jumper cables, did you check the voltage though OBC? Theoretically that should charge the battery but only if the alternator has enough oomph at idle to effectively charge two batteries at once. It should read 13.7 - 14 volts with the other car running.
echo46
10-30-2013, 12:07 PM
The radio and headlight symptoms really have me leaning toward the alternator. I know, I know, I'll shut up already about the alternator:)
pghZHP
10-30-2013, 12:09 PM
She's back up and running!!!

Thanks for everybody's help!

I took off and cleaned all terminals I could find. Ground under the car, battery and alternator.

Apparently one of the connections was not properly connected or grounded.

Car started right up when I was finished. Checked the voltage through OBC with vehicle on and everything seems fine now...

Thanks again!
echo46
10-30-2013, 12:15 PM
well there you are, it wasn't the alternator...shows you what I know.
ELCID86
10-30-2013, 12:25 PM
I love an easy cheap fix. Glad that's all it was and you figured it out before you bought a bunch of parts.


Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1).
wsmeyer
10-30-2013, 12:35 PM
Excellent. Glad it turned out to be a free fix

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
danewilson77
10-30-2013, 02:22 PM
Makes sense the way it was draining/not starting. Specifically, what connections did you address?

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH
pghZHP
10-31-2013, 09:59 AM
Yeah, I'm very happy it didn't cost any money, just some time and frustration.
pghZHP
10-31-2013, 10:00 AM
Makes sense the way it was draining/not starting. Specifically, what connections did you address?

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

I took the connections off the battery and alternator and also the main ground wire.
danewilson77
10-31-2013, 10:16 AM
I took the connections off the battery and alternator and also the main ground wire.

Thanks. Good deal.

Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH
ryankokesh
10-31-2013, 02:48 PM
I was just gonna say connection issue! (Had the same problem a week or two ago :facepalm )


Sent from my iPhone
MrMaico
11-01-2013, 12:38 PM
Glad to hear it was a cheap fix!. My money would be on one of the battery posts that wasn't making good contact. I've seen vehicles where the battery/clamps look perfect yet there was one or the other connection not making good, reliable contact.

It sounds to me like if we are having an alternator problem the red battery light should be lit on the dash. If the light isn't on it's probably something else.

Here's a good thread about it on M3forums......

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=157574
billschusteriv
11-01-2013, 05:52 PM
Glad to hear it was an easy fix. After reading through the thread, I'm reminded of a similar issue I had with another car. What I thought was a loose connection ended up being a cable that was broken internally.

Just wanted to offer that in case someone ends up having a similar issue.

Sent from my NEC Terrain using Tapatalk 4