If an alternator dies, does the battery need replacing too?
My dad bought a 2009 Vauxhall Antara month ago. It broke down and the AA tested it and said the alternator had failed. Dad charged the battery and drove it to the local Vauxhall garage where they said there is nothing wrong with the alternator, but the battery is dead. After replacing the battery they said the alternator is broken (surprise surprise!) but they are refusing to put the old battery back in because they claim the cells will have been damaged. Is this really the case as a battery is not covered by the warranty and they want to charge Dad £286 for the new one?
How long is the average life span of a mercury cougar? mileage? age(years)?
Depends on the service of the owner, could last 40,000 miles to 400,000 miles, maintenance is the key of any car
Just replaced alternator- not charging battery- what else could it be?
2008 Scion tC. just got an alternator from Auto Zone yesterday. finally got it in the car and everything back together. when i started the car it seemed ok from testing the battery. once i turned the a/c and lights on, voltage started to go down. It dropped to just below 13 before i shut it off. What else could be wrong with it? I guess it's always possible that I got a bad alternator from Auto Zone, but something tells me it was fine. The battery is new, but I got it about a week before i replaced the alternator and drained it pretty good on the way to my grandpa's house yesterday to work on it.
Is it safe to accelerate with 2nd gear in an automatic transmission?
It's safe, you won't damage anything in your transmission. You won't burn out the clutch packs / brake bands or whatever because it doesn't slip them to get the car going. The extra torque needed to drive the car in a higher gear is produced by the torque converter, so taking off in second gear MAY make the torque converter a little hotter, but only slightly, and the transmission cooler should take care of it without a problem. I don't know why you'd want to take off in 2nd anyway, it's not like you'll use any less fuel. And if all you do is just select "2" on your gear selector, it'll still take off in 1st anyway, unless you have like a "Lock" button or something on your transmission.
What can anyone tell me about a 2002 mercury cougar sport coupe? Is it a good car? Looking to buy for my son.?
I own a 1999 Mercury Cougar, which for all intents and purposes the exact same as the 2002, and I know many local 1999-2002 Cougar owners. There are several guys who are in that height range, with one of the guys being very tall, probably 6'4-ish? He fit in the Cougar just fine. It's not a very large car, but it's surprisingly roomy for the driver and front passenger seats. The New Edge Mercury Cougars (1999-2002) are great cars. Many say they are underpowered, but I disagree to a certain degree. They are sporty cars, not true sports cars. Don't compare them to Mustangs and Camaros for speed, because you won't get that kind of performance out of a V6 engine designed for a sedan. I'll tell you this though -- the Cougar handles like a dream, better than any car I've driven. Test drive one, hug a couple of corners and tight turns, and you'll know what I mean. You'll most likely come across comments about them being unreliable mechanically. Personally I don't know where that's coming from. I change my oil every 5000-6000 miles and I always do my scheduled maintenance, and at 100k miles right now, I can only remember one incidence of major repair (dead alternator).
How do I bypass power steering pump and completely get rid of it?
What do you mean when you say that the pump can't be repaired or replaced? If it's a matter of not being able to afford to fix it or you can't get the parts, then you are probably going to be without a truck for a while until you can get it fixed properly. While it may technically be possible to do away with the power steering, it is most likely going to be more difficult and more expensive than making repairs (if you want it to be safe at all).Vehicles that have power steering simply aren't designed to be driven without it. You will cause damage to other steering components such as the rack or gearbox. Not only that, but vehicles are geared differently now. The steering on a non powered vehicle was designed to function without hydraulics. Without power, a modern system's steering radius is affected greatly, they literally can't turn as far without power.The heavier the vehicle, the harder it is to steer without power. In particular, I would not attempt to drive any pickup(or larger vehicle) on the road without power steering. There's simply to much risk.There are only two times when I would even consider driving a vehicle with failed power steering:In an emergency. Either I need to get the vehicle home, or I need to get someone to a hospital and have no other options.It's a farm vehicle, the only thing I use it for is moving a few tools around a field.I've had to move two modern vehicles with failed power steering. The first was a Honda Civic that wouldn't run. We dragged it about ten miles with me steering the car. It was really hard to turn at all, and that was with a fairly lightweight car. Afterwards it felt like I'd spent the entire day weightlifting, just from a short drive.The other vehicle was my friend's Dakota pickup. I went out with him to get the truck. The pump had failed and we needed to get it back to his house so that we had space and tools to work with. We got it started, he hopped in to drive, and I followed in my car. I followed him right up until he plowed into a tree on a particularly sharp turn. He simply couldn't make the turn without power steering. He ended up with a tow bill, body shop bill, the repair bill for the pump, and a hospital visit on top. That's why I will never recommend doing away with power steering on a vehicle.
What happens when car battery cables are wrongly connected?
Let's say the red cable from the jumper cables is the positive terminal, and the black cable is the negative terminal.The battery with the red cable on the positive terminal will be a +12 V battery, and the battery with a red cable on the negative terminal will be a -12 V battery. When they are connected together, then what you were doing is putting -12 V battery in parallel with a +12 V battery.If you do this, then the positive 12 V battery tries very hard to make the -12 V battery positive, and vice versa. Because a battery is a voltage source, each battery will flow as much current as possible into the other battery trying to equalize their voltage levels.The only resistance to this flow of current is the battery’s internal resistance and the jumper cable resistance. Together, this resistance might only be 0.1 Ohms.Car batteries can easily supply 500 Amps if the load resistance is small enough. So with 24 volts of difference between the 2 batteries, and 0.1 Ohms of resistance, 240 Amps will be flowing between the batteries. The formula for calculating power from current and resistance is P=I^2*R => P=240^2*0.1=5760 Watts of power. Because there is no work being performed, all of that power gets turned into heat.All of that power dissipating as heat will melt the insulators on your jumper cables, and it will melt the plastics of the battery, and it will cause the battery acid in the battery to start boiling.
Can I drive my car with a broken thermostat?
Yes of course you can! And, you may be surprised by just how far you manage to go, before the engine overheats, seizes, and turns into an immovable, useless, expensive to replace, chunk of metal!It’s probably easier to remove the plates, pour gas all over the inside, and light a match—the effect is about the same. Thermostats invariably fail in the “closed” position so the “shelf life” of a car with a bad thermostat is measured in minutes.You need to borrow a car and go buy another thermostat and gasket—-or at least the gasket. Typically, the cover is held on with two bolts, so use a wrench (or pay a mechanic) to remove the bolts, and then the old thermostat. If you haven’t been able to afford a NEW thermostat, use the new gasket to re-install the cover, and don’t drive too far, especially in winter, til you actually get a new thermostat.
Is the 2000 Mercury Cougar a good car?
I have a 1999 Mercury Cougar (purchased in late 1998); it is essentially the same design as other 1999-2002 Mercury Cougars, save minor cosmetic changes and tweaks. It's at over 100k miles now, and I have only had two "major" repairs (dead alternator around 2004 and rusted exhaust manifold around 2008), which is pretty good. I change my oil every 5000-6000 miles (full synthetic oil) and I always do my scheduled maintenance, and I find the car very reliable and would recommend to you if you're looking to purchase one, especially as your first car. They are definitely unique and stylish when they were first introduced in late 1998, but unfortunately later models of Tiburons and 2-door Accords copied Cougar's style... You should check out http://www.cougardb.com for some information on the 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar before you make the purchase. It's a website dedicated to Mercury Cougars of those model years. I don't believe the bad reviews typically seen about Cougars are justified. I have had no real issues with the car in the 12 years of ownership, and I still think it is a blast to drive.