“my alternator belt broke so i drove the car home aprox 2mi keeping the temperature out of the red. then the next day i replaced the belts and jump started the car. everything seemed fine. the third time i sttared the car it was ackting like it did not have enough voltage but it was ideling fine. then when i put it in gear and began driving the car the check engine light came on and the ABS light was flikering. there was also a clicking sound in the dash which was matched to a slight diming of my headlights. the car seemed to have some sort of ignition hesitation asociated to the head lights and clicking. when i made a turn in the parking lot the car stalled and would not crank.”
Not quite sure, I know on my GST I had a problem where the power kept dimming, and stalling and not starting. When I further inspected it needed new connectors on the terminals.
it’s possible that htere’s something wrong with the alternator… might have been the reason the belt broke Take out the alt and go to Autozone or Pepboys or something and have them test it… Belt might have caused damage to the alt.
the car will not crank or turn over at all, no clicking from the starter. So I thought it might be the starter or terminals going bad, but I don’t know how I can relate that to the alternator belt going or causing the starter to go bad.
The battery was at 13.2 volts and dropped to ~10.9 when we tried to turn it over. we tried jumping it off another truck but it still did not turn over. so the battery did have a full charger, I don’t think the alternator belt ( it would slip) could keep the from at least turning over b/c of torque that the starter puts out
Your altenator belt also spins the pulley for your water pump. If that belt broke and you were still driving the car, even for just a few minutes, it’s possible your head gasket is toast and you also risked damage to your head.
check the altenator pulley, make sure it isn’t bent or out of alignment. Take the altenator out and have it checked by autozone or somebody. If you have the service manual, run the checks yourself
check your compression and do a leakdown test. If the numbers aren’t in spec, get ready to pull your head
Check all your belt tensioners. If the belt is even a little lose, it will slip, and you will have weird problems like what you described.
Simple version: Alternator is not putting out enough power to run everything.
Ignition will miss because it is trying to run on half power.
Your alternator most likely needs to be replaced. Belts break when the bearings in the alternator sieze or are so worn that they cause too much resistance and the belt melts/tears.
Spin the alternator and water pump by hand (with no belt attached)
They should both be very smooth with no resistance.
DONT boost a dead battery and then drive the car to charge it. A alternator is not a battery charger. You can damage it by doing that. Charge it with a charger and then start the car.
hmm pop the hood and look at the valve cover and notice it says mitsubishi on it.Problem solved.Ive heard dsms are notorious for having electrical problems like this.Check all your wiring and mainly your alternator.