QuestionHello:
I am not looking for you to give me any legal advice. I just am asking you as someone who knows more about cars than I do for your "opinion". :-)
Back on September 29th we had a new battery installed in our 2004 Volvo V70. This past Wednesday, November 4th our 2005 Volvo V70 hit a large pothole on I-287 in Port Chester New York which is about 40 miles from our home in Trumbull, Connecticut. The car was brought to the nearest repair shop which was in Port Chester New York. The next day, Thursday, November 5th a representative from Mavis Repair called and explained what needed to be done with the tires and rims. While my wife was talking to the rep she asked him how much it would cost to replace the alternator because Volvo was going to charge us $1100.00. The rep looked into it and said they could do it for $800.00 so we had them put in a new alternator. This morning, Saturday November 7th, we took a ride to Port Chester to pick up the Volvo. When we left we stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. When we were done I got into the Volvo and it started right up. No problems. My wife took our Mazda and we started to drive back to Trumbull, Ct via Interstate 95. The car drove very well from Port Chester to Bridgeport, Connecticut which was about 36 miles. Once I hit Bridgeport the RPM's started to go down and all the lights on the dash lit up. The battery light, oil light etc. About 2 minutes later the car slowly lost all power and then just stopped. I pulled over, tried to start it and it was dead. I got out my jumper cables, attached them to the terminals and proceeded to wave down someone who could give me a jump start. Someone finally stopped and we jump started the car. I got in and started driving home. About 1 mile later the RPM's again started to drop and the car lost power very quickly then died. I again pulled over and again someone gave me a jump start. At this point I am about 3 miles from my house. I drove about 2 miles and again the car died. This time a message came on that said "electrical sub-system failure". Again, I waved someone down and this time I was lucky enough to get a nice guy who offered to jump the car then follow me home. We got the car started but had to jump start it 2 more times before I got to my driveway.
Once I got home I immediately called Mavis Repair and spoke to the guy who took care of us that morning. We explained what happened and he said that maybe the battery was no good. I then told him that a new battery was put into the car not even 7 weeks ago. He then said that it was possible that the old alternator drained the new battery so much that when they installed the new alternator it was already too late and the new battery just gave out on my way home from picking the car up this morning. Now, computers I can build and repair blindfolded but all I know about cars is how to drive them.
Do you think it is possible that the old alternator drained the new battery to the point that once the new alternator was installed, it caused the battery to drain and "die"? If that was the case then why did the car start three times this morning after we picked it up and drive 36 miles from New York to Connecticut without one problem? The reason I am asking this is because they are sending a tow truck to bring the car back to New York as I type this. But, if they feel that the old alternator drained the new battery we are going to be responsible for the $200 tow charge. I know this is a lot of information but I am just looking for "advise" or a "guess" from you. Again, I do not want or expect an "official" statement from you. Just a guesstimate.
Thank you for your time.
Paul
Answer Actually, I'm inclined to believe that the battery was damaged in the pothole incident. Automotive batteries have six cells, and each dell has a number of plates. The plates alternate in positive and negative polarity. The closer together they are, and the more of them there are, the higher the amperage capacity of the battery. Most modern cars don't have room for a big battery, but need a lot of current capacity to run all of the doo-dads manufacturers think that we can't do without. To give you an idea of how bad it has gotten: in the early ''70's a 60 amp alternator was considered high capacity. Only ambulances needed anything bigger. Your Volvo comes with a 140 amp unit and is available with an optional 160 amps. In order to make a battery capable of dealing with current flow that high it has to have very many, very small plates. These plates are also very fragile. When subjected to a severe shock (like the kind that could ruin a rim or two), they will short out against each other (I have had this happen to me). This puts a greater load on the alternator and can burn it up. Aside from grossly overcharging you for the alternator, the garage that you stopped at probably did not thoroughly check the charging system. Since you wanted a new alternator, they put one on and figured that was that. First thing for you to do is to remove the battery and take it to a garage or parts store. It needs to be put on a charger and charged until it won't take any more, and then it needs to be tested with a load tester. If it fails the load test, then it's no good and should be replaced. After it is replaced, then get the charging system checked out. It may be OK after that, or the alternator may have failed. An alternator will not charge a dead battery, it needs excitation from the battery to get the charging cycle going, and an automotive battery that is completely run down will fail if it is done more than a couple of times. I wouldn't bother to take the long trip back to this guy's shop unless it turns out the alternator is bad and he is willing to replace it under warranty. If it is bad, and he gives you a hard time, get hold of the manufacturer of the alternator and give them hell, they will most likely refer you to someone local who can exchange the alternator for you.
