I’ve never worked on a car and all my knowledge is surface level from YouTube videos.
I paid a shop to install a dash cam and remote start a couple months ago and on Friday, the last time I drove my car, I realized the engine was sounding weird. Almost like an EV. While coasting, I could hear a whirring sound get lower in pitch as I coasted to a slower speed. I figured I would have no hope of diagnosing it myself and it might just go away on its own.
It didn’t. I remote started my car successfully tonight to warm it up before going to work and after a couple minutes I went out and got in. I noticed the airbag warning, the battery warning, my dash cam kept turning itself off and on, my bluetooth didn’t connect, my radio kept turning off and on, and my headlights were dimming as I turned stuff off and on. I tried driving but the engine sounded like it was stopping and starting, maybe sputtering? I didn’t drive long enough to get a good idea.
I figured it’s been a couple days since I ran the car, maybe my dashcam drained the battery. “But the car’s on now so I’ll let it run and charge up the battery a bit” I thought. After a couple minutes I was still having problems so I turned the car off and tried to turn it back on again but it didn’t even crank. Just dead silence when i turned the key. Interior lights work and so does remote lock/unlock
The battery is only like 3 years old I think. So I’m worried it’s the alternator.
It’s a 2008 Camry LE i4 - 50,000 miles (I don’t drive a lot)
Open the hood, engine running. Does the whirring sound seem to be coming from the alternator?
But it does sound like an alternator problem. The alternator isn’t charging the battery, so the “battery” warning light comes on, so the battery slowly goes flat, and won’t start your car.