I have a 95 Ford Contour 4 cyl, the battery went dead so I got a jump and drove it home. I shut the car off and tried to start it again and it wouldn't start. I drove it home for about 15 minutes. I don't know if I should replace the battery or the alternator?? Can anyone help me please.. Thank-You!

 

Jump it off, drive to Auto Zone, or Advance Auto, they will test battery/alternator and tell you what you need. If you need a battery they will install it for free. i am betting on the battery being bad.

 

Thank- You ! I will do that and see what they say..

 

Second the battery suspicion. If the alternator was bad you would have probably made it a couple of blocks down the road and it would have died again as soon as voltage dropped below about 10 volts or so.

 

From what you said, we don't even know if the battery truly went dead. All we know is it would not start. You did not say you did or did not have head lights or anything.

A volt-ohm meter would have confirmed, once started(jumped) if alternator was putting out over 14 volts to the battery posts.

Jump starting sends surge of power that can overcome bad contact points in ignition, relay, solenoid or starter, or even slightly poor cable connections sometimes. Could be anything, based on the little information we actually got.

It could very well be the battery tho', since you did not say that you can't figure it out since you had a new battery put in say 3 years ago, or something. But it is still speculation.

A volt test of the battery would be one indicator. But sometimes this can raise more questions, like is it the battery itself?, or the cables/connections, or some kind of draw down even when the key is off? A pretty good indicator of the battery though is if it is actually losing volts if the battery were unhooked overnight, and it lost even more volts. But the volt reading is not always the entire indicator, if the volts indicate good. Only if the volts indicate a discharge. That is why it is good to have it shop tested where they also put it under a load test. If a battey has water cells with removable cap covers, the first thing to do is make sure they are still full of water.

 

I replaced the alternator and tested the battery side of alternator and I'm not getting any power to the alternator. Is there something that I'm doing wrong or is there a fuse somewhere on the car? thank-you!

 

Power doesn't go TO the alternator. The alternator provides power to the starter and battery.

You should have 13.5volts coming out of the alternator, if you don't, the alternator is bad.

Sometimes, there are fusible links between the alt and battery. This is a piece of wire that will burn out if it gets to much voltage/amps.

 

I replaced alternator and took it to auto zone. It's not reading 13.5, it's like 12.6.. Could it be a bad alternator or maybe the fusable link.. When I put a test light on the positive wire on the alternator I am not getting any power to the alternator or should I get anything? Please help I'm ready to blow this car up.

 

autozone can test the alternator off the car, this will eliminate the cars wiring harness as the source of the problem. If it tests good then start looking at the car.

 

IIRC the Ford system they do have fuseable link on the alternator circuit.

On most Ford products it will useally found near the starter solind switch.

And the other thing some of Ford alterantor for plug in verison they have repetration { sp } for burning up the plug up which I do see them before.

Merci,Marc

 

Sounds like a blown fusible link............Look through (under) the intake manifold and you'll see a black plastic box approx 1/2 inch by 2.The 10 ga wire from the alt should go to it and then it goes to the battery...........If you have NO voltage at the main alt lead........and the battery is live.........That's your problem

 

I would like to thank everyone for your help.. Wrench47 got it right , it was the fuse from the alternator lead wire. There was power going in but nothing coming out..Thanks everyone!

 

Hey now, I mentioned the fusible link a few posts back, but I'll let it slide this time....

 

Ahhh But Mark....you didn't say where it was located....you only get 1/2 the points...lol.

 

Haha....true that! ...................................