The lady's car is dead.

[JHarris1385]

It is a 1999 v6 3.8L Mustang, and for the last three mornings it is dead. I have came home and jump started it the last two nights. No lights were left on or nothing out of the usual.

If you jump start the battery and the car runs, but is dead in the morning, does this typically mean the altenator is bad? I would have to think this is her 2nd battery in 3 years. We have been thinking about selling this stang and getting another VX. Gotta get this fixed to be able to sell it.

Any Advice? Thanks in advance.

[circmand]

Have you checked every where for lights being left on? The truck, map lights etc? If not the alternator would be the 1st place I checked.

[Joe_Black]

A marginal alternator can kill a good battery and be hard to diagnose. I'd pull the alternator and take to a good shop for a full test which they'll usually do for no charge. And by good shop I mean an alternator shop, not someplace like AutoZone, PepBoys etcetera.

[JHarris1385]

Trunk lights did you mean? I did not think of that one. It would be great if that is the cause. What is the best way to check the alt?

Edit: after reading JoeBlack's post. So dont take it to an autozone? Hum.......I need to locate a good shop or would any shop be able to perform this task? Her father is an electrician and I belive he has a VOM or voltameter or what have you - I only say this because I read somewhere about testing the vlts of the alt somehow. Or would it just be better to take it to a shop in the end?

[navistar]

I think a good battery will actually recharge itself after a while. After you have jump started it let it run for a while to charge the battery then disconnect the battery for the night and see if it starts in the morning. If it starts then it's probably the alternator, etc. If it doesn't start it's probably the battery since it can't hold the charge. If the alternator isn't charging, the alternator light should go on. The VX doesn't even have a clock so if you get a voltage reading between the battery terminal and battery cable when disconnected and engine is off then there is something pulling juice. Someone else, am I correct?

[Y33TREKker]

I'd have the battery load-tested. Tis' the season for battery problems. I just had one go bad in my other car. It would go dead and I'd stick it on the charger for a few hours, but in the next couple of days, it would be dead again. Wal-Mart tested it with their "small" tester and said it was good. I mentioned having no luck with it after trying to recharge it, and that I wasn't going to take it home again just to have it go dead again, so they put it on the "big" tester. Sure enough, 20 minutes later when the test was finished they told me it was bad. I had only had it for about 4 months too. It's the easiest thing to check too, aside from checking across the battery terminals for current draw with a voltmeter.

[Triathlete]

Around here the heat destroys batteries...it is not unusual to go through one every year or two. I would inagine the cold would do the same. Aftermarket batteries ( not including those of the optima status) are prone to internal shorting of the cells due to poor quality of the build. Is the battery warm or the sides swollen? This is an indicator or internal shorting (though not always).