starting problems - battery?/alternator? - warranty

[tbomb]

i just had some trouble starting my truck and i got a guy to give me a jump and it started right up. i came home and tried turning it off and starting it up a few times and it started perfectly each time. so my roommates go out there with a volt meter and check it out. 2 roommates say its the alternator, and one says its the battery. well, im gonna take it the garage that i usually go to tomorrow, but im curious, whats covered under warranty? is the battery covered? is the alternator covered? if whatever is wrong is under warranty, ill run it down to the ford place and get it done for free. i only have 27k and i have an extended warranty till 5 years/75k.

thanks in advance guys.

 

[Robert]

Your alternator is covered under warranty. I think the battery is only 12 month/12K miles and isn't coverd under the extended warranty. It is probably the battery. Figure on average of about 3 years out of a battery. Some get more, some get less.

 

[tbomb]

ok, cool. ill just take it to my regular mechanic and tell him to fix whatevers wrong, but if its the alternator to leave it alone and ill take it to ford for warranty coverage.

its weird because my truck worked fine all day and i drove to the place, then i was inside for about 10 minutes, and when i came out, it wouldnt start.

i think im gonna leave it sit for a while though and see if it does it again.

 

[Robert]

It sounds more like a dirty battery cable. Your battery shouldn't have failed so quickly. You should have noticed the starts getting weaker. When I noticed you had a '98 another thing came to mind. Your theft deterent system. Did you notice if you theft light came on when you tried to start it? I have heard of problems with them which will intermitantly prevent it from starting. If it is still starting fine now with no signs of getting weak, I would first look at the cables. If nothing is found there carry a spare key incase the chip in your key is going bad or coming loose. If it turns out to be the built in theft deterent system, it is also covered under the standard 3yr/36K warranty. You will have to check your extended warranty to see if it is covered by it if it is over 3 years old though. Some extended warranties only cover the powertrain which the theft deterent systems isn't part of.

 

[tbomb]

robert, yeah! i didnt even think of that. i didnt pay attention to if the theft light was on while i was trying to start it, but it has been acting weird lately. only problem with using my spare key is that i cant find it. i guess ill wait till the problem happens one more time, then ill take it to ford and mention the possibilities that everyone on here has said and if i just need a new key, ill have them make me one. its weird because its not a consistent problem. and my warranty will still cover everything, im only at 27k right now.