Hello everyone,

My Wife's cousins daughter is stranded @ college, I am going to try to help her out on Sat.

She 4 hours from home, I am the nearest relative (about 1 hour), so I will be working in a parking lot.....

She has had the car a short time, got it from a friend of the family who is a mechanic. He told her that he did a tuneup before she got it.

She was driving it when "the gas pedal dropped out from under her foot" the rpm's spiked, she shut it off & now it acts like it has a dead battery... (no lights, no crank)

Maybe she accidently engaged cruise?

But now why is it dead?

I am not familiar w/these cars, if the ALT failed it wouldn't do the rpm thing (maybe it's a red herring?)

Bad BAT cable?

Bad IGN switch?

Is there a test port to check for fuel pressure?

I sure would appreciate any ideas as to what to be prepared for...

Thanks in advance...

 

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

No one has any ideas?

 

When you said "(no lights, no crank)", that has to be a main connection on the battery, or ground or starter. Clean the battery connections and the ground to body and where the positive cable connects in the engine bay and also the main terminal of the starter. Check all the fuses and check all the relays in the engine compartment for corroded connectors. Sometimes the ASD (Automatic Shutdown Relay) relay goes out (common) , but you should have lights.

 

Thanks for the response.

I was there Saturday, it started w/a jump but as soon as the jumper cables were disconnected, it would die. Based on my non-Chrysler experience, that meant the alternator, since all the cars I have worked on in the past 23 yrs have had an internal Regulator. I swapped the Alt, same symptoms.....

I have since been informed that the Sebring Alt is regulated by the ECM & will not run without a well charged battery.

Is this true?

Thanks

 

It is true that the voltage regulation is governed by the engine computer. As long as alternators have been in cars you have needed at least some charge in the battery to sustain charging by the alternator. The battery supplies the charge for the field of the alternator. If the battery is totally dead, the alternator can't charge it. Either put the battery on a slow charger to bring it up, or replace it. The engine computer's operation on a low battery can also get erratic.
BTW, on that car, you'll find the battery stuffed into the front fender, behind the left headlight, hidden by a splash shield in front of the tire. The owners manual shows its location and claims you can remove it without removing the front tire. I think it's easier to remove the tire.