When you said it wouldn’t start prior replacing the battery, was it cranking a bit or clicking or nothing? Was it making this awful noise already? Sounds like a broken bearing along the serpentine belt so it could be the alternator or else. Do you actually have a battery light on the dash?

It could also be the starter if you don’t have the battery light on the dash. Starters can make an awful noise too. Do you feel the engine is turning or not? I do see the belt spinning so the engine must be turning.

I’m not a mechanics but I’d go for the alternator first because the first symptom was a dead battery. Batteries can quit instantly but unless it was freezing cold, it is very possible that your alternator started weakening a few days ago and did not recharge the battery correctly before breaking completely. And if the engine won’t start, you can’t measure voltage on the alternator. What if you took a long screwdriver and try to pinpoint the sound with your ear?

 

Yes, it seemed like it was cranking and clicking but with not enough juice to start. I do have a battery light but however most of the other lights are on in the cluster too. The engine is definitely turning but I'm having a huge problem pinpointing where this noise is actually coming from. It doesn't seem to be from the alternator thou, Any chance the starter could be making this awful sound?

 

That's the starter that you hear it sounds as if the solenoid is bad and the unit is not completely engaging the fly wheel.
How old is you tester? The BMS system has the ability to shutdown or reduce charging based on what the unit believs the battery state of charge to be.

 

Yep...even if the alternator wasn't charging the new battery it should initially start after the battery change. It certainly sounds like a starter fault where it is not engaging the flywheel completely as @jpohlman suggests.

 

Thanks for the input. The sound does seem to come from the front bottom side (isn't it where the starter is located? ) I decided to hook the same tester to my good working vehicle and what do you know, the tester is also showing a bad alternator with it even thou it works fine

 

True that with a good battery, the starter should crank fine and start the engine a few times, even if the alternator is gone. I am very tempted of buying those tiny microphones that help identifying the source of the noise. In IT, we have a saying: there’s nothing worse as two problems at once. In your case, it seems to be the chicken or the egg. The top priority is to have the engine running so if your battery is full it should start. You do have a battery light on the dash but until the engine starts, it doesn’t mean anything. If you would have seen the light before having the firs occurrence of engine not starting, then it would most likely be an alternator problem I went through these issues this summer: first the battery had bad cells in it, second the starter failed and third, the alternator failed a few weeks later. On a Ford Focus.

 

Update: Alright fellas, real bad news. I went ahead and replaced the starter and nothing, no improvement still exactly the same. Same noise. Im getting a little ansty thinking perhaps the engine is fubar .
A shop replaced the transmission a couple of months ago. The car would start evern with a bad transmission right?
I'm open to any suggestion or/and ideas. Thanks for your help.

 

Update: Alright fellas, real bad news. I went ahead and replaced the starter and nothing, no improvement still exactly the same. Same noise. Im getting a little ansty thinking perhaps the engine is fubar .
A shop replaced the transmission a couple of months ago. The car would start evern with a bad transmission right?
I'm open to any suggestion or/and ideas. Thanks for your help.

You haven’t touched the alternator after the starter?

 

Sorry to hear that....are all your drive belts ok as far as you can tell?

 

Yes. the one serpentine belt seems ok. Is there any way to tell/check the timing belt without diging too much?

 

Let's go back the the noise and the transmission being replaced.
Any chance the flywheel is loose or missing teeth?
With the starter out there should zero play in the flywheel and there shouldn't be any metal bits laying around inside the bell housing.

 

I will go back and check on this I do have a camera endoscope and will take a look inside. It definitely sounds like some grinding noise doesn't it?. I'm in the process of taking the alternator out for further tests too.

 

A quick update. A little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I cheated the system and I was able to pull the alternator through the top near the passenger headlight without removing the engine mount. I took the alternator to my closest auto parts test center and it failed. It passed a few of the so many tests conducted but I was told that at the most important one it failed. A new one is on its way but only time will tell. I will get back and let you guys know how it goes. Thanks everyone for the help!!!

 

I take it they know it's a smart alternator and the output is controlled by the PCM? It would require some specialised test gear (at a guess) to test it out of the vehicle.

 

Hmmm, I didn't think of this. Basically they have a computer module where they mount the alternator. They look up the year, make and model of the vehicle and this generates a code for the computer to be input( kinda to let the computer know which alternator model may be) and thats when the tests begin.

 

Is there any reason no one is suggesting reading the codes? Remember? Forscan, dongle, cheap, helpful . . .

 

the scanner that I have while compatible, it nees for the engine to be fully engaged to read any codes.

 

You should only need the igntion ON (no engine running.)

 

I see...Yes it connects, but there are no pending codes. I meant no available "Live" data

 

Major update...So the alternator arrived today and after the replacement still no change however my in laws were visiting and as I was speaking with my father in law, he said that (unbeknown to me) last week he performed a combustion test and that it was positive. He said he threw some bottle gasket sealant in there (his daughter vehicle).I was not aware of this, I knew the vehicle had other issues in the past such a bad transmission and some bad hoses but this was news to me. Now, aren't those sealant some what safe or could they cause a catastrophic gfailure such as the one I'm now dealing with? As alway I'm all hears and thanks again!

 

Until you stop throwing parts and guesses at it, it will never get better. The car will tell you where it hurts doctor, you only have to check the lab report (a full and all inclusive OBD scan). It can be done. It has to be able to be done, or something is so messed up it's beyond all of us.

 

you only have to check the lab report (a full and all inclusive OBD scan).

Is there any scanner that you can recommend that could read any possible codes as the vehicle stands? The one I have can't find anything.

 

I had said there is a good, reasonably priced OBD 2 Bluetooth dongle, and a $5 app called ForScan that can do just about anything they can do at a dealership.
I had also said that I don't have the exact info hardwired into my brain to recite all of the EXACT info, but a search, or someone who has the links saved for quick posting may put it in this thread.

 

One of the Ford compatible OBDLink versions would be one of the best. They use better electronics than any of the ELM327 based interfaces that requires a switch.

 

I'm definitely going to look into these scanners that you guys are talking about.
I removed the starter to further look into the inner of the transmission using my endoscope camera. Here is me rotation the engine manually...

This is a look into the inner part of the transmission. There are a few very tiny metal shards in there but I can't make up as to the why they are there. Nothing major thou.

[
I also removed one of the bottom bolts that connects the transmission and engine, some fluid did came out there. I was thinking thats this part was suppossed to be sealed Can anyone comfirm or deny?