Try to guess what's wrong with my car because AAA has no clue

Well, I just got towed to my mechanic by AAA. I have a 2005 Ford Escape v6 4wd. This morning I drove it to work just fine, the power steering was giving me some problems but thats an old issue. When I went to go home it would not start. The AAA battery replacement truck came and ran some tests, he said it was the alternator and also the battery was dead. When the flat bed tow truck came he said the battery guy was an idiot and ran some more tests which showed the battery was charging, the starting system was fine, and the charging system was fine. He told me I was safe to drive it home, I just had a loose terminal. We let it charge for a little bit then I was on my way. I didn't make it two blocks before all the electronics shut down and by the time I pulled off to the side of the road the engine was crapping out. I called the tow truck back and he has absolutely no clue what it could be. At lunch time it ran fine however I did hit a pretty nasty bump. Any guesses of what it could be?

Also the mechanic won't be able to look at it until Monday. That's why I'm posting here, just to get some sort of idea. The pic is pretty much unrelated because mine isn't a hybrid.

an almost dead sparkplug?

It's a Ford.

Boy that would make me pretty happy. Cheaper than a new alternator I think.

And we already established that it's a Fucking Old Retarded Dodge.

Why are the retards always the first to reply? Do you think the car electronics get their electricity from the spark plugs? Do you think the spark plugs charge the battery? Did your parents drop you a lot?

Your alternator is probably dead, like AAA said. Possibly a loose wire at the alt, but probably not. Tow truck drivers aren't mechanics, don't listen to them.

Well if it is the alternator it's going to be pretty rough on the wallet. In fords infinite wisdom they put the alternator at the bottom so you have to take the passenger axel off.

I advice you to buy a multimeter, if you don't already own one. Its an essential tool for doing wiring, installing relays, checking grounds and measuring electrical power.

When you've acquired one you should do a test to see if its charging. It should be about 12-12.5 volts when turned off, 13.5-13.7 volts when on. These numbers do differ a bit from car to car and multimeter to multimeter - what is important is that you have more voltage with the car running, which means that its charging, aka the alternator works

If you have the same/less voltage with the car running then the alternator is not charging for one or more reasons, the most common being worn out brushes, broken charging relay and bad wiring

Your case sounds like a very common one, which plays out like this;
>dead/dying alternator that fluctuates between charging and being dead
>battery is put under immense loads, is overheated and/or experiences way too many cycles of charge and discharging
>ThisKillsTheBattery.jpg
Without a working alternator your car will run until the battery is out of juice. Without a working battery your car will run, but you won't retain a charge and you'll also notice that lights flicker and that your lights get noticeably brighter when you up the revs. This is due to the alternator by itself not delivering enough/stable power
Without a working battery nor an alternator you're not going anywhere

Summary; your alternator is probably the issue, and may or may not have killed your battery also.

BUT! There is always a but, and one that would've been easy to miss had you not mentioned your power steering. On pretty much all cars the power steering, the alternator and many more devices are powered by the engine itself through a serpentine belt, which is pulled directly by the crank. If this belt fails or starts slipping you'll soon notice a shitload of trouble like overheating, no charge, no power steering, no AC and more. Still, when this does happen there should be plenty of warning lights popping up on your dashbaord, and I can't really make myself believe that your car somehow haven't gotten any of those through this ordeal if the belt is struggling

You can let the sub frame down a little to avoid removing the axle.

Should've bought a chebby

>Serpentine belt

Many cars also have different belts for different accessories.

Commonly

- One belt for water pump and alternator
- Another one or two for supplemental accessories like power steering and a/c

Though as you say, most American market vehicles carry a serpentine belt

During the entire ordeal two lights came on the battery light, probably because my battery died, and the abs light which would go out when I pressed on the brakes. The abs light didn't turn on again until it died after the tow truck ordeal.

Wait. You got your car towed to the mechanic and you're trying to have Veeky Forumsutistic people diagnose your car over the Internet? Rather than have the mechanic who has diagnostic equipment and your car in front of him do his job?

He can't look at it until Monday. I'm just trying to get an idea of how much it will cost me

'bout tree fiddy

If the battery is good and the alternator is good but it shows symptoms of fucked battery/alternator, check the cables that touch your battery. Not the terminal, but the cable attached to it. I had all the same shit and it turns out the positive battery cable was corroded as fuck, but it was inside the plastic sheathing so you couldn't see it.
$12 at vatozone.

You should always have at least $1000 set aside for emergency car repairs.

Check'd dubs tell the truth

he's just asking a simple question you autistic piece of shit

It's your alternator you dumb fucker.

> simple question
> plz diagnose my car over the internet user

k

In fact this was a good thing to ask because it is 95% a dead alternator. Since every single tow guy is a subhuman retarded piece of shit, it's no surprise that he didn't know.

It's a ground wire. You probably live in the rust belt. You can't find a bad ground connection without getting under the car.

Also, your Escape is AWD, not 4WD.

I do live in the rust belt. And you are technically correct that it's AWD event though the stupid plate next to my steering wheel says 4WD

I am one of those retarded sun human pieces of shit, but even I have the brains to not try to diagnose a customer car. I just shrug and tell em I'll tow it to a shop I their choice.

You dumb asses are trying to do this over the internet. That makes you worse than your local dumb fuck tow truck driver.

It sounds like an alternator, but it could be something much simpler or much more complicated. Even as a subhuman tow truck driver I realize this and that it needs to go to someone who can get their hands on it and properly diagnose it. Like I said earlier not having at least $1000 set aside for emergency car repairs is setting yourself up for failure. Diagnosing over the internet is the most retarded shit in the world.

I have the money to fix my car, man. I'm just trying to see what other people think. I know my mechanic personally so I know he won't rip me off or feed me bad diagnoses. He can't look at it until Monday, I'm assuming because he has a life, so I thought I'd ask the most qualified autists available.

Battery light came on because the battery wasnt charging from the alternator. The battery light has very little to do with the battery itself, most of the time.

ABS light turning on is pretty typical when the battery is dead, I wouldnt read too much into that unless its still on after the charging system is fixed

>2005 explorer

Better double that, just in case

Also a possibility, but I wouldn't count on this OP. Alternator is a normal wear item that eventually gives out. Try to fix it yourself next time and save yourself a few hundred bucks

You're setting yourself up for failure by asking this board about automotive diagnostics. I suggest you get get yourself a set of wrenches, a multi meter, a good OBD 2 scan tool and a factory service manual. You'll be able to self diagnose most issues if you learn to use these tools. Although the mechanic is still going to charge you for diagnosis. Probably extra if you tell him you self diagnosed it.

Why don't you just leave this work to the professionals? Clearly you can't fix your own car. Asking autistic strangers on the Internet is the WORST idea you've ever had. They don't have the car. They don't have the tools. Your mechanic does.

If you have the money just forget about it. If you seriously tell your mechanic "well these autistic fuckers on Veeky Forums said it was this!" you deserve to be beaten with the largest pry bar in the tech's box.

I'd never tell my mechanic what asspies on Veeky Forums said. He'd slap the shit out of me. Just thought I'd ask my man.

A thread died for this

Check the crankshaft position censor if it has a short it will cause the engine to stall randomly i had a client that had a short in the wiring ran perfectly then just randomly didnt

>have loose terminal
>put terminal back
>go down road
>terminal completely frees itself from the battery and your engine dies
I had the same problem OP. Go buy new terminal bolts. Napa sells big'ns.

Power steering and alternator crap out at the same time? Check belts.