Why my dashlights went crazy!!!

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, driving home from a fun time at the pool, I thought my vehicle was possessed.  Dash lights were flashing at me, the message center kept telling me random things were wrong with my Jeep, it had already given me a hard time starting earlier that day, and then I saw the smoke!!!  Now, I know a lot about cars, but this was something new to me.  My first thought was a dead battery.  And I wasn't completely wrong.  But the dead battery came as a result of something else, it was not the initial problem.  Come to find out my alternator had gone bad.  The smoke?  Well that was a pulley, which is affected by the alternator ;)

The alternator is responsible for the electrical system within your vehicle.  It takes an immense amount of power to not only start your vehicle but to keep it running.   What about the battery?  The battery provides the electricity necessary for the starter to crank and start the vehicle.  The alternator then takes over and charges the battery.   The internal combustion of the engine, the crankshaft and pistons, provide the power to the alternator, which is connected to the pulley system with a serpentine belt.  The energy produced to spin the pulleys moves the belt and powers many components of your vehicle.

Luckily I was right down the street from my house and was able to make it into the driveway.  As I reflected on the past few days, I realized I had ignored the signs!  There had been multiple times that my vehicle was slow to crank, my lights had seemed dimmer than usual, and there had been some flashes of odd things on the control center.  I was just chalking it up to my battery going dead and I would deal with it "later."  Famous last words! haha.  

So learn from me...pay attention to your vehicle and it's warnings so you don't end up stranded! If you have any questions please give us a call 619-562-3933
​Happy Monday!!

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