So now my battery died. Every year for some reason, March is is my crazy month in terms of repairs. Anyway, I jump started the car and I went to the nearest dealearship and got a new one for $169 and replaced it this morning. I don't have a tool to check if the battery was fine or not, but I used a standard voltmeter that still showed 12v. I tried to research online but most people say that Volts may not be the correct way to see if the battery is good or not. I may have the volts but not enough amperage to jump start the engine. Still, I decided to replace it because it is about 7 yrs old. So I figured, lets change it. However, I have following questions:
1) What if it is my alternator and not the battery? The Parts guy at the dealership said that. He told me to bring the car back and have the alternator replaced ($$)
2) If it is the alternator, is there any way to check it or only the dealer can do that. I will have to get it replaced I guess. The dealer is asking $125 to check.
3) I recently replaced all Spark plugs and cables with a local Indy guy (I got the parts) as his labor was minimal. Could that have caused anything? Or resulted it some sort of short of the battery?
I guess too many questions but not sure which one actually applies. Could be all of them or worse none of them. I am just worried if that if the alternator is messed up, it might destroy the new battery as well. Any thoughts from you folks might help.
1) What if it is my alternator and not the battery? The Parts guy at the dealership said that. He told me to bring the car back and have the alternator replaced ($$)
2) If it is the alternator, is there any way to check it or only the dealer can do that. I will have to get it replaced I guess. The dealer is asking $125 to check.
3) I recently replaced all Spark plugs and cables with a local Indy guy (I got the parts) as his labor was minimal. Could that have caused anything? Or resulted it some sort of short of the battery?
I guess too many questions but not sure which one actually applies. Could be all of them or worse none of them. I am just worried if that if the alternator is messed up, it might destroy the new battery as well. Any thoughts from you folks might help.