Monday, August 08, 2011

Because My Car Radio Told Me

So - I'm driving to a late lunch today and listening to WCPE. Suddenly my radio goes to static. I look at it and it has switched to the AM band and the clock says it's 12:00 (It was actually around 1:30). Then, as I'm glancing at the radio - the display changes and says "Low Battery".

What?

I just happened to be passing an Advance Auto store (the one on Wake Forest Road inside the beltline) so I pull in to let them check out the battery. The technician hooks up his device and says - "The battery is OK but needs charging - it's your alternator - showing a bad regulator or diode with no output. Your car's electrical system is running off the battery only."

Hmmmm.

So - I head straight over to the Ford Dealership and sure enough - they confirm the alternator needs to be replaced ($509).

I've never had a radio tell me automobile diagnostics before. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Apparently, so does my radio.

2 comments:

Fritz said...

didn't you have some sort of other electrical problem?

posts said...

Indeed. The original battery wore out last year. The car is 5 years old so that's about the expected life of a battery. On a similar note - I had the extended 100K mile warranty. The mileage on the car now, when the alternator died? Just over 112K. Figures.