Alternator or battery

[vacuum 6]

The wife has a 1999 Toyota Camery. Since the cold weather it’s hard to start. How do I check to see if it’s the alternator…start car and unplug the positive side of the battery, if the cars stays running the alternator is good?

 

[turbojd]

Have the battery load tested. How old is the battery, may need replacement?

 

[87granny]

Put a volt meter on it in a pinch and check voltage cranking if it drops real low poss. a battery if it shows 13.9- 14.1 while running the alt. is ok but its not voltage your really looking for in a battery its amperage so a good load test would be the best way

 

[86Nick]

Alternator test

I think you nedd to pull off the negative when the car is running and if it stalls then it's the alt. If you pull the positive the alt will have a voltage spike and could burn something up.

 

[DailyDrifter]

I have seen a few toyota batteries take a dump.

 

[Clark6]

The wife has a 1999 Toyota Camery. Since the cold weather it’s hard to start. How do I check to see if it’s the alternator…start car and unplug the positive side of the battery, if the cars stays running the alternator is good?

Its the ((( Battery))) , i just went through this last week with my wife's PT, Cruiser. Alt charging fine 14.1 with the car off battery has 12.4v.
but when its cold, cold its hard to crank has a hesistation to it, then it fires up, I assume its the ---cold cranking amps---- whats going down.
the battery is a factory 2002 model so its a 60month 6 yr old battery. Batteries are gonna hold up only about 5/6 yrs. This one got its money worth. I put in a 72mo. this time no problems since. Change it you'll be glad.:wink:

 

[whitehot1]

Most of the auto parts stores have those portable testers on wheels that they can test your battery,alternator,charging system on the car with and they do it for free,all you have to do is pop the hood and start the car for them.

Oh and if it's not a sealed battery,and has the caps that you can remove to check the level in the cells. Advance auto parts sells battery acid to replace it,it comes in a container with enough to do 3 cells of an average size 12 volt battery. I do that to batteries that have past the warranty period and it's also a good idea to once a year before it gets to the freezing temps to place the battery on a slow charge to check the condition of the battery.

 

[TurboDave]

I think you nedd to pull off the negative when the car is running and if it stalls then it's the alt. If you pull the positive the alt will have a voltage spike and could burn something up.

That's a newer car (OBDII), I seriously doubt it'll stay running when removing power from the PCM (any more than our Buicks would). This isn't the 60's.