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Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 6, 2017, 1:03 PM
Post #1 of 16
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Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Hello, I have been trying to figure out what is wrong with my car for about 3 months now.
Is it a 2007 dodge caliber 2.0
My car started acting up one day, it was winding bad and felt like it was driving odd. I got worried and stopped at a gas station and turned it off. It wouldn't crank back on so my fiance had to jump it. When we got it to come back on radio and lights didn't want to work, warning lights were flashing, it didn't want to pick up speed and such. Eventually it got to the point that you couldn't drive it over 20 miles an hour and it would die every minute and kept having to get jumped just to get it home.
So what I have done so far...
I replaced the o2 sensors because AutoZone did one of their free tests. That didn't help. Replaced the battery, didn't work. Replaced the alternator, didn't work. My fiance and I had been told by many people including a few mechanics that we know that it should have been the battery or alternator. Well that ended up not being the case. So I found a traveling mechanic. The mechanic ran a diagnostic on my car and said that with all of the codes showing he wasn't able to pinpoint the problem. He tested the connections and said that the ecm isn't sending a strong enough signal to the alternator that maybe the ecm needed to be refreshed to recognize that there is a new alt.(voltage was about 3 going to the alternator) The battery voltage is supposed to be I believe 12-14. It tends to drop to 7-9 then eventually dies. So when the mechanic told us to refresh the ecm we couldn't do that without spending just as much on a replacement ecm. So we just replaced that also. This still hasn't solved anything. I'm at a loss on what to do. Our fuseable wires seem to be fine. There is something that we are missing.
Does anyone have any idea on what to do? We have all ready invested enough money into this. I really hope it's simple and not costly!
Oh also the only lights that are on now are the battery and check engine light. (Only those two have been on since we had my car diagnosed at AutoZone, all others went off) There are also no blown fuses.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 6, 2017, 2:38 PM
Post #2 of 16
(1958 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Have you tested all your fuses with a test light?
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 6, 2017, 2:43 PM
Post #3 of 16
(1951 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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We have not used a test light, don't believe we have one. We tested fuses by looking for cracks. Used a multimeter to check other connections.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 6, 2017, 2:47 PM
Post #4 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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You need to use a test light with the key on.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 6, 2017, 2:52 PM
Post #5 of 16
(1943 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Ok, I never knew about test lights before. We will go pick one up and I'll get back to you. Thank you.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 6, 2017, 2:59 PM
Post #6 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Each fuse has 2 contact points on the top. test both of them. Both ends should match.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Aug 6, 2017, 3:31 PM
Post #7 of 16
(1937 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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As HT already said, get a test light and check all your fuses, also check the big stud going to the back of the alt to make sure it has power...
You have pretty much changed all the hard parts in the charging system, the only thing left is the wires...
I'm not sure of your electrical skills, but if you aren't comfortable with doing voltage drop testing, then you are going to have to take it in.... I would suggest a place that specializes in electrical or the dealer...
Some shops have guys that are good with electrical and other where they're not so good....
I don't know all the circumstances but just going off your posted info, it sound like this problem was a bit over the head of the guys that looked at it already....
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 7, 2017, 12:57 PM
Post #10 of 16
(1850 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Ok so, we tried the test light on my fuses under the hood. We tested the small ones and most of them aren't lighting the tester. What could that mean?
I have to go to work so we didn't test anything else yet.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 7, 2017, 1:49 PM
Post #11 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Did you have the key on?
If you did, then you either didn't have the light grounded properly or just didn't make contact with the right spot.
Test that the light works on the positive battery cable before starting.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 7, 2017, 5:01 PM
Post #12 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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We did try with it on. I just asked my fiance he said that he checked the battery cables as well. My belief is that somewhere somehow the alternator is still not getting charged well enough, so that makes other things in the car not work as well either. Like how the battery voltage drops. Could it be a connection between the ecm and alternator?
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 7, 2017, 5:06 PM
Post #13 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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We are well aware of that. This is why we are having you perform some related tests.
I wasn't asking you to check the battery cables. You were checking the test light. It's apparent that you are have difficulties with even basic test light checks so I'm afraid you are going to have to get a local mechanic involved.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Jccjdb
Novice
Aug 7, 2017, 9:59 PM
Post #14 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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I just wasn't sure what you were getting at and I was on break so didn't have much time to think about it.
Yes we tested the light it's self before testing the fuses. Well I guess I will just have to keep messing with it. I can't afford to take it to a mechanic again.
Thank you.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Aug 7, 2017, 10:59 PM
Post #15 of 16
(1791 views)
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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After you check the fuses, you need to check the stud on the back of the alt to make sure that has battery voltage, it should be hot with the key off...
Maybe HT can post a schematic of this system for you, it's pretty basic...
Also pull the codes to see if there is anything there....
For any more testing after this you are going to need a voltmeter at a minimum.... If you aren't familiar with voltage drop testing... just google it... It's really not to hard.... You might google electrical connector backprobing to... It's not as bad as it sounds..
(This post was edited by Sidom on Aug 7, 2017, 11:02 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Aug 8, 2017, 4:43 AM
Post #16 of 16
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Re: Replaced alternator,battery,ecm
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Well I guess I will just have to keep messing with it. I can't afford to take it to a mechanic again.
I replaced the o2 sensors because AutoZone did one of their free tests. That didn't help. Replaced the battery, didn't work. Replaced the alternator, didn't work.
So when the mechanic told us to refresh the ecm we couldn't do that without spending just as much on a replacement ecm. So we just replaced that also. This still hasn't solved anything.
So, you think throwing parts at it is cheaper than getting an accurate diagnosis from a QUALIFIED tech? It is not. The one so called mechanic you talked to didn't know any more than you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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