I had my battery check at auto zone and they said it needed to be charged so i took it home and charged it over night and put in back in the car that morning and that night the battery died again lights got super dim while i was driving home. I had one of my friends run a test on the car while it was on and it said i was pushing like 12 volts and we did it to his and his said 13.4 with the ac on. and i have a bad clicking noise when i try to turn it over

could it be the battery or what???

Its over 96 degress here everyday

 

Altenator... the clicking noise is from the starter when the battery doens't have enough power to turn it, since you charged your battery, it has to be your altenator.

 

lastnight i was pulling out my house and the lights were just alittle dime and after a minute or 2 the lights got bright like there supposed to be

 

try replacing your battery first. it's the easiest thing to replace.

 

Bad connection somewhere...

 

I would say, that if you charged it, and it went dead while driving. Then it's your alternator. A properly funtioning alternator should keep battery voltage between 13.5 and 14.5 Absolutly no higher due to the voltage regulator. I would remove the alternator and have it tested, but I would more than bet thats your problem.

 

I just got back from getting the alternator tested and they said it was fine. its running between 13.9 and 13.7 so i know thats not the problem now.

I really think my starters fired!!! getting a new one tomorrow and a battery for $351 with gm discount price!

A new starter from gm is $390 and the battery from gm is $139.... the reason im going threw gm to get the battery is because no one around here had the battery i need. i tried autozone, adanceved, napa, and walmart and still nothing

 

if the car died after you were already running, then it's not your starter. Now that you checked the alt. and batter, I would start looking for loose connections. Also check for corrosion in terminals and such. The starter is a pain in the ass to replace, especially if it's for no reason. Granted if your starter is pulling too many amps then yes, that will drive your battery down, but the alternator should replenish what the starter drew from it. I would just plain to a starter test before I go about buying one. Also check cranking volatage, state of charge on the batter after the car has been just off and the headlight turned on for 30 sec. This will take off the surface charge to give an accurate reading. The state of charger should be no less than 12.4. (75%) 12.6(100%) Then check cranking voltage, will a dvom the voltage during cranking.( you must disable the engine first. pull a injector fuse and also a fuel pump relay to be safe that you don't flood the engine with fuel.) Then crank for a max of 15 sec. Watching the voltage of the batter. The voltage should not go below 9.6. If it does you have a bad battery. But again I don't think it's your starter.

 

you're wasting your money and time fooling with the starter. Your problem is in the charging/electrical system. Your battery is dying while your driving because it isn't being charged. All very good suggestings above. Loose connections, weak batter. Man those are low number for an alternator, it almost sounds like your alt/battery is on it's way out, it may test good, but as soon as your put a load on it, it can't keep up. That's the direction I'd go. PUT DOWN THE STARTER AND WALK AWAY

 

alright. i just got home from the mall and like 5 minutes from my house my lights got super dim and then i lost power steering so im pretty sure it the damn battery going out now because its so freakin hot here! it was 100 degres today

But i think theres probably a bad connection somewhere to the starter or maybe one of the wires thats going to it. but im getting a new battery tomorrow first and see if thats the problem...


just to let yall know my cars has been sitting for 6 months Feb. thru july.. so thats probably the battery!

 

yea its the bat.

 

Um...ya think?

 

Ok yall i just put a new battery in my car and it still clicks.. so its gotta be the starter now

 

check all ur grounds, esp engine and alt ground. if one of those is not properly grounded the cobalt WILL NOT start.

 

where are mostly all the grounds? under the car?

 

engine bay. One is near the power distribution box by the abs module. I would also have a current output test done to the car. Consists of using a carbon load pile vat machine( a battery charger with ablilty to load the batter) you load the batter down to 12.5 and look at the amperage output. The current output should be within 90% of factory specs.

 

I have a similar situation, altho it was my fault. I changed a setting on my amp and i believe it drained my stuff. I was driving home and my headlights go out, lose power steering, and car died when i made it home. Jumped my car, but it died within a minute. So some people were telling me it was my alternator so i actually ordered one and it should come in within a few days. My buddy will help me put it in.

But does it sound right to be my alternator? And would you guys have any tips on removing and putting new one in?

I heard it's not hard.

 

After driving and the lights getting dim they did come to full power when you slowed to a stop? lights flickering at all?

I had the same problem and needed to replace both the alt and battery.

 

Well for me, no, it was just slowly dieing... Like my ABS light was goin on/off and just my headlights were goin dim and dieing. Not really flickering. What I am going to do is... after I get new alternator in, i'm going to get my battery checked out. Cuz if it is also my battery, I would get jumped and get to O'reilly's or somewhere. But my problem is I can't even drive it right now because the alternator is bad i guess.

 

Yea, my ABS light went on and off randomly too. Inspect the battery yourself, mine was leaking down the side of the terminal onto the trunk floor.

 

Will an Optimus battery work with our cars, since there is no venting for them? Thought I'd ask cause I can get one at cost, where as the dealer wants $120-$135 for an OEM battery