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Originally Posted by GoodStuff
Not true. A bad alternator can drain your battery as you drive. I've had it happen.
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Yup. If it's bad enough it can actually pull juice FROM the battery to run all the electronics such as ignition system (ie: plugs and coils, radio, headlights etc)
Also, as someone said earlier, check the battery contacts. Take a wire brush and clean the battery and cable terminals.
If it's a bad alternator it might be cheaper than a battery replacement to fix. It could be just a simple thing like bad bushings.
I had a VW Golf last year that would make that deep bass-like sound at idle and at take off. The engine would also have a very hard time starting in the mornings and for the first 30 minutes of driving the engine would have maybe 10hp total at take off from stop lights.
After I sold it the guy came back and informed me all the problem was was a bad alternator. He had it rebuilt cheaply and all problems were gone. I sold it to him for $400 because of the engine problems. He turned around and resold it for $1200 a few months later.