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1993 Ford Escort

Question: Battery and alternator

Question

Lolita Luna, Renton, WA, February 11, 2011, 18:16
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 Rookie

I have a '93 Ford Escort that I am trying DESPERATELY to sell (for a lousy $500 yet). The battery would not stay working so I just finally started taking the cables off when I turned the car off. That has worked.However, before I figured this out (and had the battery charged at Auto Zone) a guy came over and I would have definitely sold it but-well you know-the battery would not stay on. Anyway, like I said, I charged the battery. But then he calls and says, "Well, I'm really worried about maybe it's the alternator. So I asked this guy that works in the shop down at the Shell station and he said the sure-fire way to know if it's the alternator is to keep the car running and then take off the positive battery cable. If the car turns off, then the alternator's bad". Of course, my car turned off when I did this. This sounds funky to me, though, but hey, I'm not a mechanic. I don't want to be a chicken**** and sell the car if there really is an alternator problem.Does anybody know what's up?

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  • Answer #1

    backyard tech February 11, 2011, 21:04
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     Master

    DO NOT EVER ASK THE WRENCH AT THE SHELL SATION AGAIN ABOUT ANYTHING. That is not the way to test your alternator. There's a good chance that you may have caused a problem with the computer. Probably not, but do not ever do that on a computerize car.
    Really for $500 dollars he is not getting a new car.

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