hey guys,

so i have a 2004 s2000, with about 66k miles on the clock. as of the last 2-3 days, i noticed that the engine has a hard time "starting" up when i hit the start button. initially it sounds like weak/under powered battery. once the car is ON, then nothing seems to be the problem. as i drive the more and more in the day, the starts do get a little better. but once its not driven over night, again, hard time starting... i assume its a battery that isn't holding its charge anymore, and needs to be replaced...

but what are the chances that it also might be an alternator issues? anyway to check for this?

thanks!

daniel

 

and on a side note, i'm also getting this awful screeching belt sound when i start up my car on cold starts/or overnight starts. once again, when the car is driven, it don't hear the sound throughout the day anymore. generally the first start up of the morning. any ideas?

 

Puill the battery out of the car and have it tested at your local autoparts store. You can also do the same with the ALT. but my money is on the battery.

It is well known that the battery for our car is a bit small and does not last as long as we all would like.

 

Replace the battery, im sure its the original one u have.

 

cool. i was just worried that if i replaced battery, and thing still lost charge, i'd be stuck with a bad alternator... but i guess that's only way to tell. thanks guys! appreciate it!

 

get the battery tested. if you want a quick way to check the alternator start the car and unplug the postive side of the battery cable. If the car stays running your alternator is ok if not its bad.

 

its the battery duh!!! if you alternators bad your car will die while running

 

Battery.

 

my ap2 oem battery lasted 47,000 miles so i would say its probably the battery ODYSSEY FTW

 

Not sure if this was meant to be funny, but I'll go ahead and say this anyway because a lot of people believe this quote to be true.

This is a common misconception. Alternators can lose efficiency and slowly kill the battery over a long period of time. A new battery may fix the problem for as much as several months before the sluggish alternator attacks again or goes our completely. I learned this at age 17 with a few optima yellow tops. Damn good and expensive batteries to have problems with and I eventually did #2:

The best way to find your problem is:

1) Pay for a diagnostic at a local shop if you're not good w/ your hands or don't have a second vehicle.

OR (my way)

2) Remove the battery & alternator, throw them in the DD, and have Autozone or whomever check them for for free.

Most of the time you'll just need a new battery, but plenty of people end up stranded when their alternator gives up the ghost. I'd rather properly diagnose than run the risk of ending up on the side of the road and spending $75 on a tow bill.