Can vehicle run without battery?

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted by eljefino
The Delorean had such a wussy alternator, half the time it was running off the battery.

Johnny Carson had one and ran out of juice just driving one night.


His alternator died.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Depends depends. When Chrysler debuted the first alternator, they did so by driving one of their cars some unholy distance with no battery.

Will all cars operate this way? No.

Is disconnecting a battery while the engine is running ever a good idea? Also no. Boats have multiple warning about shutting off the battery switches while the engine is running. Bad bad thing.

 

[SeaJay]

Was on an adventure with some friends in his late 1970's chevy nova. Upon returning to the car discovered the battery had been stolen, a common enough event back in the 1980's in my area.

Someone hooked their battery with cables up to our electrical system. The car started, the cables were disconnected and off we went without a battery on a night time drive. No problems with the car running on the trip home, maybe 20 miles or so.

Maybe it can't be done with today's cars, but it could easily be done on those old cars.

 

[y_p_w]

I had the opposite problem. Accessory belt started falling apart on the freeway, but everything was still running. I could tell because there was a loud snap sound and I could see pieces of the belt in my rear view mirror. I could also smell burning rubber. Got off, found a place to park, and popped the hood to find that there was only one rib still there and a bit on the loose side. Thought I might try limping to my destination, at which point I believe the belt was completely gone as I was parked downhill and partially blocking someone's driveway.

But I knew the belt was completely gone after a bunch of lights went on and the radio started failing. It was still about 4 blocks to my destination, where my wife really wanted to go. So for that period of time the battery was the only source of electricity powering the ignition. The battery was also about 7 years old (a JCI DieHard) that had also been through multiple jump starts due to my wife's tendency to leave the map lights on, although I left the headlights on myself one time. Found a local shop to do it, and they charged about $125 (replaced the A/C belt too since they were already there. At least the diagnostic fee was basically waived when the repair cost more. And I got a $25 Visa card. Not sure what they did with it, but I think they probably charged the battery, or at least jumped it.

 

[Shannow]

One day my brother asked Dad if he could borrow the battery out of his car to start another in the driveway.

Dad said "sure, but leave mine running for a bit"

So my brother started Dad's car, took the battery out, and let the leads flop where they landed...it stayed running, but cost hundreds.