Got a car question for any motor heads out here on gE.
I've bought an 06 Rav4 a couple of years ago that now has 180k on it that I use as my cat ranch/vision question vehicle. Worked fine and drove it 2000 miles this July when I was out vision questing. A couple of weeks ago I was going to take it out the the farm but right when I was about the leave the car wouldn't start, didnt even try and turn over. I had driven it maybe once in the last month and it had the same battery as when I bought it so I replaced the battery and it started right up.
I made it out to Hays with no issues where I stopped to get gas, started fine after that but when I rolled into the Wendy's drive through next door my battery light came on. As I was pulling out my dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and I lost power steering etc, was able to park it in the wendy's parking lot. Wouldnt start and barely tried to turn over. I disconnected the battery cables/put them back on but same thing.
Called a tow truck since I figured it was a big issue, they tested the battery etc, said it was fine and gave me a jump start. I drove back to KC with no issues and it has been starting fine ever since. I took it up to my local O'Reillys where they ran the tests on my starter/alternator/etc and everything came back fine.
Any ideas on what the issue is/was? I'm assuming it has to be the alternator but it tested out fine at O'Reillys and the car has been running good for the past 2 weeks. pls help me
