Ask a stupid automotive question

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(06-09-2015, 07:02 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Unhooking the battery ruins everything.

Just get a second battery to place in your trunk.

If you leave power to the vehicle, and you put voltage to the chassis, you're gonna cook something.  VW is one of the only cars I know of that will need a "reset" if you leave the battery disconnected too (although I am sure there are others, especially on the high end)......but even they have a way around that if you know what you're doing.....it's all in the security system, typically.....

http://www.vwvortex.com

(06-09-2015, 07:10 PM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: Yeah, cars these days suck big time.

Old cars, if my battery was dead after driving the car or the headlights started to become dim, I knew I needed a new Altenator. To check and make sure, I would get the car started and unhook the battery, if the car stalled, the Altenator was bad and needed to be replaced. If it stayed running, I had to find the problem in the electrical system.

Now, if you unhook the battery while the car is running, you can do all kinds of bad things to your car. Things like fry the computer or burn out your Altenator, lol. I know these things are supposed to be better for the car and stuff but man, it was so much easier long ago.

You can still check them.....use a voltmeter.  If you're pulling less than 12 volts with the vehicle running, chances are your alternator is shot (bad voltage regulator)......especially if you have 12 volts with the car off, and less than 12 while running......