Repairs
Mobile Alternator & Starter Replacement
A dead car is usually one of three things: the battery, the alternator, or the starter. We test which one it is before we sell you any of them.
A dead car is usually one of three things: the battery, the alternator, or the starter. We test which one it is before we sell you any of them.
When a car will not start, three components get blamed and only one is usually guilty. The mistake we see constantly is someone buying a battery, fitting it, and being stranded again two days later because the alternator was never charging it in the first place. Testing takes minutes. Guessing costs a lot more.
A proper charging and starting test is more than clamping a meter on the battery. We measure resting battery voltage, load test the battery, measure charging voltage at idle and under electrical load, and perform a voltage drop test across the main cables and the ground straps. That last test is the one most people skip, and corroded cables and bad grounds are extremely common in Florida's humidity. We have fixed plenty of "bad alternators" by cleaning and re-torquing a ground strap.
Alternators are cooled by airflow and they live in the hottest part of a very hot engine bay. Central Florida ambient temperatures shorten the life of the diodes and the voltage regulator inside them, and heat is also what kills batteries here long before the warranty sticker suggests. Starters mounted low near the exhaust take the same punishment. If we find the battery is the actual problem, see mobile battery replacement. If the car cranks but will not fire, that is a different path entirely, see no-start diagnosis.
This is the repair where being mobile pays for itself outright. A car with a dead alternator or starter cannot be driven to a shop, so the conventional route is a tow, then shop labour, then getting yourself back to collect it. We go to your driveway, your office lot or the parking garage where it quit, and fix it there.
Testing tells you in about ten minutes. Broadly: if the car starts fine after a jump but dies shortly after, suspect the alternator. If it starts fine after a jump and keeps running for days, suspect the battery. We measure rather than assume.
Usually yes. On most vehicles it is accessible from the top or through a wheel well. Some transverse engines bury it and turn it into a longer job, and we will tell you before we come out.
A single solid click with bright dash lights usually points at the starter or its solenoid. Rapid clicking usually points at insufficient current, so battery or a bad connection. We test both.
Commonly 80,000 to 150,000 miles, but our heat pulls that toward the lower end. Underhood temperature is what kills the regulator and diodes inside them.
We will quote you both where both exist and explain the warranty difference so you can choose. We do not quietly fit the cheapest part and charge for the better one.
Oil, brakes, batteries, AC, diagnostics and no-starts, done in your driveway across Orlando, Lake Nona, St. Cloud and Kissimmee. Upfront price before we start.