Q: Car loses power while driving
Recently, while driving, the car started losing power. I was lucky to be able to drive it home about 1/8 of a mile away. Once parked, I tried to start it and it wouldn't start. I then checked the battery (two years old) and it showed that it was only about half charged. I have since recharged the battery and it receive full charge. I reinstalled the battery and the car starts right up. However, I have yet to take it out for a drive (I'm affraid it might die). I did hook up my multimeter to the battery and the alternator looked OK since it was able to keep the battery charged with a full load. My question is if it's a bad battery or alternator (two years old also), why would the car lose power while driving? Wouldn't the engine just die? Can a bad battery or alternator affect the way a transmission operartes? What do you think caused the loss of power?
My car has 160000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hi there. Once your car starts, the job of the battery is pretty much done. As the engine operates, a drive belt powers the alternator which supplies electricity to all components, systems and accessories. If the alternator is faulty, it can impact the operation of your Suzuki’s engine and transmission. However, more often than not, when you have acceleration problems or issues with the vehicle losing power, it’s related to an ignition or fuel system component failure; or dirty and clogged fuel injectors or throttle body. If you’re still having these problems, the best way to diagnose this type of problem is having a professional mobile mechanic complete a car is slow to accelerate inspection.
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