Brandon Therens Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 I have a 2009 Dodge Journey R/T, and everything was working fine until one day I noticed that occasionally while driving the stereo and navigation system display would get all distorted and then lose power completely. A couple minutes later however it would power on again. A few days later I went to start the vehicle (and it had been running earlier that day) and it would not start. It just made a clicking sound as if the battery had been drained. I used another vehicle with jumper cables to start it, and it fired up right away. However, in order to keep it running I had to press on the gas to keep the engine rpm up to at least 2000 rpm or so. If I left it to idle, the battery warning light symbol would come on, and all the other warning lights would light up just as they do when you turn the key on before starting the engine. Pressing on the gas a bit would make these lights go off as well as the battery one. If left to idle any longer the engine would just die after a couple of minutes. I thought it might have been the battery causing the problems so I put a charger on it for a while and was still unable to start the vehicle. I removed the battery, charged it up and used a tester on it. It is rated for 640 CCA and tested at 590 and at a voltage of 12.9 V. The tester indicated that the battery was good. When I tried using a different vehicle jumpered on to the battery connections of this vehicle, It would not start it either. The dash lights would light up when connected and the power locks would make a sound like they were trying to work. Only the rear power windows would work not the front ones. It appears there is next to no current available from the electrical system to run these components. When I removed the cables after having been attached only a couple of minutes, and also when I had the battery attached to the vehicle and had the battery charger on it, I noticed that the alternator became VERY hot to the touch. This was not when the vehicle was running - only when it was charging from either the battery charger or from being jumpered on to another vehicle's battery. It appears nearly all of the current flowing into the electrical system is being lost to the form of heat at the point of the alternator, judging from how hot that alternator became. Could this indicate a bad alternator? Is there some component of an alternator such as a diode or something that could be causing a short within the system that is draining the battery and preventing it from starting the vehicle? Or is it possible that there is a short somewhere else? The fact that the alternator got so hot made me think that it could be at that point where the problem is, but I thought maybe it could be anywhere along the circuit and the whole thing may in fact heated up like that, but I thought a fuse would've blown somewhere or something. If I can save the expense of having it towed/hauled to a garage that would be great because I live in a rural area and a repair shop is quite a distance away from me. Thanks very much for any advice dodge2014 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Welcome to the forum. Indications, at least to me, are a bad alternator, because it got so hot. There may be a break in one of the coils. Also, with batteries in this day and age can show to be fully charged and still have a bad cell. These 12v electronic systems in cars may start to do wacky things, even with a slight voltage drop. Do you have a spare battery that you could hook directly to the car? At least, you could shorten you list of possible items before buying an alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 (edited) also possible bad bearing in alternator that was going bad ,had it happen once and it really didnt notice any noise but once i stopped it didnt want to turn back on, bearing had froze up, i had been driving on a long trip when it happened. is the alt. pulley spin freely? Edited April 3, 2015 by 2late4u dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silenze Posted April 3, 2015 Report Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ch3ck the cables going to and from the alternator. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Therens Posted April 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Thanks for the replies. I have another battery that I will try using tomorrow to see if it makes any difference. What concerns me is that even while jumpered on to another vehicle, there still isn't enough power to start the vehicle. My thoughts all along were that the alternator was to blame. Would you recommend disconnecting the alternator and trying to start the vehicle using the battery (fully charged) alone? If the alternator is the problem wouldnt one be able to confirm this using this method? Or is this a bad idea in these newer vehicles? Thanks again for your help. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Alternator on our 09 had to be replaced at about 70000 miles. It was working but making a terrible whining noise. I was going to replace it myself, but even a re manufactured one was close to $400. Since we had an extended warranty, had the dealer do it. Our deductible was $100 so it was cheaper that way. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 If the alternator is getting hot while the car is not running, you can eliminate a bad bearing, BUT because it's getting hot while jumping or charging would lead me to think you have a short in the coil or diodes. Do you have a parts store or shop that can test the alternator for you while the car is running? That will answer your question. swapping batteries is a pain in the ass and you should not have to do it. I would load test that battery again, your numbers seemed a little low, but not terrible, but these newer cars need every amp! Good luck! dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Thanks for the replies. I have another battery that I will try using tomorrow to see if it makes any difference. What concerns me is that even while jumpered on to another vehicle, there still isn't enough power to start the vehicle. My thoughts all along were that the alternator was to blame. Would you recommend disconnecting the alternator and trying to start the vehicle using the battery (fully charged) alone? If the alternator is the problem wouldnt one be able to confirm this using this method? Or is this a bad idea in these newer vehicles? Thanks again for your help. Do one thing at a time. The more things you initially change, the more you have to deduce as to what is wrong. Jump your car with the other car. No luck, just switch batteries. if you do one thing at a time, you can eliminate a cause and eliminat the guessig game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I was going to replace it myself, but even a re manufactured one was close to $400. $400.00 for a reman.....I just choked on my coffee seeing that. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Therens Posted April 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I tried disconnecting the alternator and attached a charged battery to the vehicle, and when I tried starting it it fired right up. The vehicle has about 130000 km (around 80000 miles) so needing to replace the alternator isn't all that surprising. Checked with my uncle who manages an auto parts store and he can get me one for around $200 so hopefully that will resolve the problem. Thanks again for the advice everyone. dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Replace the battery first, especially if it is the original one. We have customers who often try to jump start a car with booster cables and are unsuccessful because of insufficient amperage across the cables. A booster pack will usually do the trick there. Anyway, if a battery cell is faulty, your tester may still show a good test but again, there won't be enough amps to crank the engine. Erratic voltage plays havoc with modern automotive electrical systems as dhh3 mentioned earlier and is likely the root cause of your radio display issues. When you change the battery, make sure you thoroughly clean the battery cable ends as well. If no warning lights illuminate with the engine at idle, then your alternator is operating normally and should not require replacement. They do fail but not nearly as often as the batteries do. 2late4u and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mgamer261 Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Think I'm having this same issue dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 Keep us posted as to what you find out. jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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