Fiat bravo battery or alternator

jordanfaf

I bought my car in September 2013. A 2008 fiat bravo. A few weeks after buying the car it wouldn't start because of a battery problem. I simply used a trickle charger I had In my garage and the car worked flawlessly... until today. I started the car in the morning perfectly fine. After an hour or so of driving I arrived home and turned the car off. None of the lights or radio was left on. After about 30 mins later I came back out and the car wouldn't start. I jumped it off a friends car and got an engine warning light. Every so often my lights an stereo would turn off and the car would rev itself. As if the battery was disconnecting. Or the alternator wasn't producing enough power. I drove back home and left the car running in the drive to charge a bit. After 15 mins the car turned itself off and wouldn't restart. I plugged the battery into my charger and apparently it is fully charged. I opened up the battery to check its cells and the water levels were very low and quite brown and dirty. I'm wondering should I go out to buy a new battery or is it my alternator that's the problem. My parents are away so I don't have enough cash to go to a mechanic. But I have the 80 euro for a battery

georgefalls

New battery, I'd say. By the description of the inside of yours, its fooked..!

jimgoose

I should say a new battery, yes. It would be useful to get it running if possible and check the charging voltages with a multimeter.

biko

It might be an issue with the alternator but the battery def needs to be changed.

jordanfaf

Quick update. I bought a battery in rathgar motor factors for 60 euro. Cars been running perfectly since. No signs of an alternator fault yet

georgefalls

Probably the best 60 you've spent on it

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Should be quite easy to check if it's the alternator or the battery now, get a multimeter on that bad boy!