I pulled my car out of storage and it wasn't able to start without a jump. I took it to the dealer and they are saying it needs an alternator. They charged my battery and I picked it up from the dealer (Bill Crispin Chevy, Saline) .While driving it the alt gauge shows slightly on the positive side. I was told by the dealership that the alt. was putting out almost 0 charge. So, would the alt gauge show positive if the alt was truly bad? I drove it about 10 miles shut it off and started it back off a few times, no problem. I left it at another shop to get a second opinion.

Oh yea, no battery light or Alt light on in the car.

Please give me input..... I hate to spend $300+ for nothing.

Thanks.

Bill

 

I think Autozone will test it for free. Might give them a call or any autoparts store.

 

A simple alternator test is to turn the headlights on at idle, you should hear the alternator make a slight whining noise and the engine will slow just slightly.

Not likely that the alternator went bad from sitting in storage.

 

By far the easiest way to check an alternator is to check the battery voltage with a multimeter with the car running then shut it off. If the voltage is higher when running then drops off a little when you kill the motor the alternator is maintaining the battery. If the voltage rises when you shut the car off then the alternator isn't putting out even enough to support the electronics needed to make the motor run.

 

Doesnt sound liek a bad alternator, I would get it tested advanced and autozone do it for free. If it is bad I think they run about 150$ brand new and isnt that hard to swap.