Hard Start - 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 Long-Term Road Test

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Hard Start - 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 Long-Term Road Test

Our 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 has been pretty reliable on the whole, but a hard start condition recently reared its head. It comes with the territory when you're dealing with older used cars.

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daryleason

I think you hit the two most likely culprits, the Alternator and the Stereo. I'd lean more towards the alternator over the stereo, simply because the stereo was installed shortly after purchase, so you would think it would have caused the problem to appear earlier in the ownership while an alternator's issues can be intermittent at first, then get progressively worse until they just seize up. Or, it could be that the BMW i3 is stealing juice from the battery when they're both parked unattended. You know how those EVs are when it comes to energy and their absolute hatred of a internal combustion performance car...

allthingshonda

Chrysler has a known problem of modules not going to sleep when the car is off and draining the battery. Numerous discharge and charge cycles will shorten a regular battery's life. I think Chrysler's information center will show battery voltage. Check to see how many volts its putting out with the key on but without the engine running.

nate001

I would say alternator, even if the radio is using a bit of juice it would take a while for it for the battery to be drained. Cost: $225 for the alternator + $125 for Labor = $350

tom_in_mn

Warm start problem says alternator, as while it was running the battery was getting drained. Cold start first thing in the morning problem would point more to a drain while turned off.

banhugh

So you are saying that the charging system is OK based on the man with the truck full of batteries but the alternator maybe problematic? Uh?

longtimelurker

banhugh said:

So you are saying that the charging system is OK based on the man with the truck full of batteries but the alternator maybe problematic? Uh?

Can't make this stuff up. Charging system is A-OK but he suspects the alternator is bad.

I suspect an enterprising service advisor could get more than $350 out of this.

agentorange

That sounds like a vehicle with a bad ground, either battery to chassis or engine to chassis.

SadButTrue

longtimelurker said:

banhugh said:

So you are saying that the charging system is OK based on the man with the truck full of batteries but the alternator maybe problematic? Uh?

Can't make this stuff up. Charging system is A-OK but he suspects the alternator is bad.

I suspect an enterprising service advisor could get more than $350 out of this.

It was deemed A-OK in November, when the battery was replaced. I'm saying my best guess is that either something's taxing the battery when it shouldn't be, or, as seems more likely, something that wasn't recently replaced (alternator) is the culprit. I could have said it better.

-JS

nagant

Just because the battery was replaced does not mean it cant be the battery again. Not likely but it happens.

moparfool

After an alternator check light at 4000 miles @ 2009 Challenger, I bought a plug in digital voltmeter for the car to keep an eye on things electrical. The alternator issue never repeated, but I still keep track of alt voltage via the voltmeter. It's a quick and easy way to check the electrical system. Of course, it won't check current drain.