Car died today for the first time.. The cause is pretty embarrassing.

Ok, today I decided to go and return the harmonic balancer puller that I rented from autozone 2 days ago to install the steeda u/d pullies. Went to gas station.. fill the car up and returned the hbp no problem. Upon returning.. I noticed the battery guage is dropping right in front of my eye. The red needle keeps dropping so I quickly made an unexpected turn right into a deserted parking lot.. then before you know it my car died.

I figures wtf? how could this happen. The car wouldn't even crank up. The radio doesn't work. Only shows up the clock. So, I popped the hood. Luckily, I put all the tools in my trunk. I disconnected the negative battery. Waited a while and reconnect it then The car started right up. I was happy and wanted to just go home (5 miles away). So, I got back on the road and noticed the needle dropping again. I panicked and decided to make a turn right into one of the home dealer place. Unfortunately, the turn was a left turn and there were lines of car coming on the opposite way. So, my car died, stuck there alone..

Then a minute later. An old modded chevy truck pulled up behind me trying to get in the home place. I signaled him to go around. Then right when I was getting out of the car. He pulled up across the road and offer to help me push the car into the home dealer place. So, me and him pushed the car together into the place, I happened to have the jumper cable in the car.. so we tried that. The car started right back up with no problem. Then we disconnected the jumper cable and before you know it, the car died.

We pushed my car into a parking spot where we would try to jump the car again. Then, the guy told me that this time.. he's going to disconnect the positive battery. If the car dies, then that mean the alternator is bad. (something I learned today) So, as we suspected, the car died. So, I told him that I just installed these pullies and new upper intake yesterday. He said that I may need a new alternator then something hits me (my thoughts)......

My thoughts took me back to 2 days ago when I installed the pullies. I removed the alternator to have autozone put in new pulley for the alternator for me. I remember that when I pulled the alternator out there was ANOTHER wire that hooked up to it. I remember that because I had a bit of a rough time getting it out. So, I quickly told him that I may have forgotten to plug in one more wire! So, I go up to the car and found one loose connector that's not connected to the alternator. It's the cable which charge the battery from the alt. :doh: It was a careless mistake and I'm happy that it was just that.

I learned that the guy work and autobody shop, and I guess I made a new friend. A chevy friend.. It was pretty embarrassing and all.. but I learned something and that's all that's matter :nice: I hope you all can learn from my mistake... thought I might want to share :)
 
i had a similar incident happen a few years ago. i had just got my 96 z71 back after the dealer put an engine in under warranty i had 35960. I drove fine to get a haircut,then it wouldnt crank. i got jumped off by alot of people. it turned out the alternator bolts were not tightened all the way so it didnt kick in and i ran off battery. check your alternator make sure its tight
 
After my UDP install, I forgot to plug in one of the radiator fan wires (I took off my fan to get clearence for my wrench to the crank pulley) and needless to say the next day I was in traffic the car boiled over from heat.

Wasn't cool.

Felt stupid afterwards for missing that. :nice:
 
Tylerb59 said:
After my UDP install, I forgot to plug in one of the radiator fan wires (I took off my fan to get clearence for my wrench to the crank pulley) and needless to say the next day I was in traffic the car boiled over from heat.

Wasn't cool.

Felt stupid afterwards for missing that. :nice:


Same thing happened to me when I had pulleys installed (Mechaninc forgot to plug in the electric fan.) Car boiled over in the parking lot of a local Tony Romas.Needless to say, that mechanic never saw my car again.

Was the car ok after it boiled over. I have always wondered if that did any damage to my car or not.Seems ok, but now I always have it in the back of my head that something could be wrong.
 
My friend's mustang overheated so much the radiator melted lol. I forgot exactly what it is that happened but first something broke, then the fan owuldn't work because of what broke, and then the radiator ended up melting, that sucked