Q: New battery but my car just stalled and doesn't start now.

asked by on December 14, 2017

My battery light came on so I went and got my battery tested, it ended up being bad so I got a new one. The light never turned off after new battery was installed. and two days later my car dies on me and doesn't want to start. But was driving fine up until it stalled on me.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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You may have a failing voltage regulator that could be allowing the alternator to supply too much or too little amperage to the battery resulting in the battery never maintaining a consistent charge as it is designed to. The voltage regulator is a unit that regulates the charging of the battery by the alternator. When the voltage regulator is not working properly, this may result in the alternator allowing too much power to be delivered to the battery resulting in damaging wires and prematurely sometimes destroying the battery. A common sign of this is usually the acid inside the battery boiling causing the battery to swell. You may also smell a bit of smoke due to things potentially getting too hot. In other cases it may result in the alternator not supplying enough power to the battery, resulting in undercharging the battery or not charging it at all. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose your vehicle’s charging system.

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