Well, this morning I changed the water pump. Stupidly, I spun the Crank Pulley by hand to see if it would turn. I read somewhere you SHOULDN'T do that.

- So, I tried to replicate the movement back to it's "original" position.

...I took out my battery to charge it to full capacity while I changed my water pump, upon reinstalling as I normally do I pulled the PCM B Fuse for 10 seconds. (Too lazy to use OBD to clear codes).

Cleared the DTC's. Went to turn the key, it would crank but no spark, no start, just cranked.

Don't worry, I didn't crank it too long and I didn't repeat the process.

First thing I checked was the cables on battery, wire brushed them clean and re-installed. THEN, I checked the Fuel Schrader valve, it barely bled. So, I cycled the fuel system to pressurize the lines/injectors. It fired up. So, I thought I got the problem.

While I was changing water pump I did a rad flush..

When the car started I turned heat on to high, full blast and put on rear defogger.

Went inside for a minute, came out, car was dead.

I checked battery with multimeter, 12.9V Output.

Battery=good. Slowly dropped to 12.73 and stayed there.

I thought it was the fuel again... I heard the fuel pump relay going but didn't hear the fuel pressurize as it should.

Anyway... after a while, the car started up, gave it some gas, and drove after 20 minutes, car stalled and wouldnt start again..

checked belt, put on a new one, tensioner is good.

Battery light illuminated.

Did i ruin my alternator?

 

V across batt should be 14.4 ish V with alternator operating at full output.

On the 1st startup after battery reinstall, there was likely no spark OR Fuel because the signal from the crank position sensor (CKP) was likely confusing the PCM since you had rotated the crank and the PCM was expecting CKP response that was temporally shifted from what it actually received. If the CKP signal is not interpreted properly by the PCM, it inhibits the fuel and spark as a safety measure since it does not know where the crank is in its rotation

That having been said, I don't see anything in what you did that had anything to do with the affecting the alternator. Check the connections at the alternator and ensure it has a good ground.

The fact that you had to pull your battery to charge it worries me w r t health of battery.

My GUESS is that your alternator is indeed dying, as its output V and likely its output current is significantly lower than expected.

Your 20 min drive drained the battery faster than the underperforming alternator could keep up with, so you basically ran the battery down to the point that it couldn't supply enough current to keep the PCM going, etc.

I suspect if you pull the battery, fully charge it again, and reinstall you will go through the same series of events as described above. But you will get it started again. Once you do, drive to Autozone/Oreilly's/AdvanceAuto or equivalent WITH YOUR BATTERY CHARGER IF YOU CAN ---do NOT shut off the car before you go in.....and have them do a FREE charging system load test. This should confirm ALT is bad, and possibly more.

THEN beg them for a power outlet so you can charge the batt some before leaving for home---that way you don't stall dead on the way home.

 

Yeah, it sounds like you have a dying/dead alternator... Mine did similar stuff on my way home, and my battery is still fine...

My battery always seemed to recover some charge overnight... The night the failure occurred, by the time I made it home, the on,y thing working on the car was the engine... No ABS/air bags/lights, instrument cluster, etc... Voltage(measured at the diagnostic port) was 8.82... When I shut the engine off, it wouldn't crank anymore, but in the morning it fired right up, and voltage was 11.4(but dropping quickly)... I moved my car around my driveway several times, with the dead alternator, and not having charged the battery at all, before I got the alternator changed...

 

So, today, I started the vehicle up. It ran good. To be sure, I had it run in idle with no accessories on for 20-30 minutes. It stayed on, so I shut it off.

Hour or so later, I decided the problem was over and I may have been exaggerating over a dead alternator..... It fired right up and everything was fine. I was mobile for about 2 hours or so until I pulled into a parking lot and slowed down and it died on me.

Same process again, this time there was no Outlets to plug my trickle charger in...
So, I got an alternator and installed it there in the parking lot. Got excited and went to start it, nothing, same thing. Battery must be drained. I will find out tomorrow what the deal is. Typical boost should get me going or am I going to have to sit there for a while? Weird thing is, everything worked, no surges on the lights, stereo pumped fine.
Acc, etc; The only thing I noticed was I can hear the FUEL PUMP relay click, but I didn't hear the sound of it pressurizing. I checked the valve AGAIN, it barely bled, I tried to re-pressurize, the relay goes and nothing happens. Checked valve, nothing but sweet air. There's 3/4 tank in there. Just don't get it...

I hope I didn't overkill my battery though.

 

I only removed the battery and put a trickle charger on it while I was doing the water pump change, I didn't need to and I didn't check V on it.

There's nothing wrong with the battery, this has all happened since I did the water pump replacement though.... any ideas on what I may have messed up? Before the water pump the alternator seemed fine and I didn't have this problem at all.

 

only thing I can possibly think of is something got shorted during the removal of the battery. Which terminal did you remove first, + or - , when pulling the battery? If you touched the - ground wire to the still connected + wire, you were essentially shorting the battery to ground at the battery cables AND you were shorting the output stage of the alternator DIRECTLY to ground, resulting in a fast, high current discharge which may have damaged it.

A jump start using good quality cables, a vehicle with a similarly rated battery, and CLEAN ENOUGH CONNECTIONS on the jumping vehicle to ensure good electrical connections should work just fine. With the new alt, it should then start charging the battery itself. Bring your meter w you to confirm a 14.4 ish V reading across the batt while vehicle is running (jumper cables removed)

The fuel pumps in these cars are electric -- so there probably wasn't enough juice available to run the fuel pump (sorry it took me so long to catch that).

Between the the chemical reaction behind your battery's self-recovery and the cranking, you must have gotten just enough charge into the batt to start it -- based on ignition of the fuel/air mix already in cyls (which would rotate the engine and therefore also the alt, charging the battery). Then, once rotating the alt charged the batt enough to be able to run the fuel pump, etc.

?

 

You're right my man, Rookie mistake.

I did remove the Negative post first when I initially went to charge it, I do remember a distinct sound similar to the fuel pump priming.

Regardless, I swapped alternators, the battery was running strong this morning when I went back. I don't get it, last night the Voltage on it was 11.6 and this morning, crazy enough it was 12.82 and holding.. when I opened the hood and checked I noticed when I left it open it started to SLOWLY drain. After a quick 5 minute search I realized the Hood pin was catching or shorting out consistently. Regardless; I worked on this car during the day and I never noticed the Turn signal lights simultaneously flash or hold steady.

Took care of that problem; ANOTHER thing, I decided to do troubleshooting on the fuel system. I never had a problem with it until recently. A few months back it felt as if the pressure of gasoline to injectors would sputter, I changed the fuel filter and problem seized to persist.

I open my trunk and find the connection to the fuel pump located on the Driver's side trunk hidden by the underlay. Low and behold, a puddle of water sitting there, rusted looking, and it never seeped out properly cause of the rubber seal where the Fuel Pump wires go through... The connector, Corroded as hell, especially the grey wire! The moment I unravelled it, grey wire snapped off. Cleaned it right up (going to replace) and wow man, I noticed a huge difference in power and acceleration from the initial start this morning.

Thanks for the inputs and suggestions guys!

Love my Saturn. 167000km, $1300.00 (bought) + $450.00 (new parts)

Couldn't go wrong.

 

With the voltage variances you're reporting, I think you may have a bad cell in the battery. Take that sum beech and have it load tested about 3 times in a row and see what happens. Maybe it'll be okay. I don't know. But with something shorting it, I'd have it checked anyway.