|One the way home last night i stopped to help a old man with a 280s mint looking. the car had just stopped and the bat was dead i gave it a jump and it died i figured it was the alternator so i let it sit for a while and charge the battery sp he could make it to the gas station. i gave the guy my number if hey ever wanted to sell the car well i got a call he says i ruined his alternator and that he wants me to pay or he will sue me. What should I do.

To your question, you may be able to damage a diode on the alternator, but probably not the alternator itself.

You have to wonder about some folks. Lets see...he has a charging system problem. That’s why his car is dead on the side of the road. You helped him. He now wants to blame you for the charging system problem. As if it was your fault he’s on the side of the road. Try, really, really, really sincerely, to talk some sense into him. If that fails, let him sue you. You can probably counter sue him for a frivolous suit if need be, and if you want. He’ll have to respond to the frivolous counter-suit before you have to respond to the suit. You’ll win on both cases. He’ll pay for your lost time from work, etc., in addition to his crappy charging system. Unless he's a real dick, he's not going to sue over a $500 $800 item. If he is a real dick you'll have to go through the motions no matter what, because that's what dicks do to other people.

There are also good Samaritan laws that might protect you. Check with your city/state about this...

BTW I am not a lawyer nor pretend to be. Just some common sense…

Best of luck, tread lightly!

…Tracy

ok thanks i will call my dad's laywer tonight. I fought with him on the phone and i will be going to court I just wnated to make sure it was not my fault.

I thought his battery was dead, so the alternator was probably dead before you stopped to help him. What a a****** this guy is.

__________________
2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

Properly connected jumper cables will never damage an alternator or it's diodes no matter how lengthy the jump. The guy is an idiot. He clearly had a problem with his charging system before you came along. Unless he's an attorney (and I do detect some potential indications of that) his lawsuit threats will end as soon as he talks to one. What he really owes you is an apology.

Boy this kinda garbage justs fries my beans. Make sure you add "emotional duress" to your laundry list along with your attorney's fees.

Flippin' jerk.

Somebody tried that with me about 25 years ago. Same precise problem. Said see ya in court. He kept calling so my attorney sent him a very short letter about harassment, filing charges in civil court, FCC, blah blah blah. It stopped.

Oh by the way, What looks good on a lawyer?

A doberman. What looks good on your new "Diode Friend"?

Your lawyer.

Don't let the Bas!@#* get ya down.

__________________
S, J.R. Brown
2000 G500 LWB Obsedian Black
2005 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab Off Road Sport
1993 Volvo 240 Sedan Anthracite
1980 450SEL Champange (owned it for 15 years. Great car)
1986 280GE LWB Anthracite (Sold it and kinda wish I hadn't)

HE WON'T

Have we learned a lesson here folks? I hate this whole victim mentality everyone seems to have.

Don't blame this gentleman, he's old, and is most likely just reacting to some bad advice that was given to him either by a mechanic, or a dumb lawyer. Even if he is or was the scummiest barrister on earth, he should know that you can't sue someone for such an event and win...

Everyone so far has given you excellent information here. The best and most on track (by default) was from LeBenz.

Why not have your father call him on your behalf? Perhaps hearing from someone closer to his age who isn't a party to the event will help "clear the air", and get to the root of the matter.

The real questions here are: 1. Was he able to get the car started as a result of you stopping to help him, and consequently get to a service station? And, 2. Would be be suing a road service provider for the same issue after they had provided the same assistance you gave him at no cost?

__________________

Scott Longston
Northern California Wine Country...
"Turbos whistle, grapes wine..."

i just called him and he hung up the phone so o well

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
some people can be such jerks! you try to do something nice and you get HELL in return. I'm sure this case will go nowhere if he dose file a suit. but talk about a pain in the ass just going threw the procedure. do me a favor and make this ignorant ass pay!
good luck.
Adam

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

He let you work on it as a good samaritin... it's his bag end of story. If it goes to small claims court the Judge will rip him a new one and maybe award you some money from him for your time. I am telling you this from experience. I used to help people out of ditches during snow storms. Once a tow strap broke and dented a guys car, He then sued me. In court the judge ripped his ass bad, I mean bad he basicly called him an ass&^%& himself and awarded me $100 for my time. The big thing was I never asked for or accepted monetary compensation. Don't worry about a thing this guy is just an idiot.

you know what the worst part is if i see someone on the rpad now i will probley think twice

Yip times are changing big time. As a biomedical engineer I am trained in ACLS and everything, I even resuscitated a woman in a grocery store parking lot with a Defibrillator that was in my car that I was returning after a repair. I think twice now because of the liability, its a very sad, sad thing. As for me pulling people out of ditches I still do it, and the funny thing is I only do it because I like to drive around in Blizzards and play. I live and die by my attorney but I sure would like to do without. As for the car end of it he TUNDRA rocks in the snow I mean really unreal stuff!

Dan,
Now that we established that you were dealing with a flippin jerk, I thought I would address the dead alternator issue. A co-worker (who has a ford car) has had bad experiences with his alternator going bad shortly after he has jump started other cars - he no longer jump starts cars. I have never experienced alternators going bad after jump starting other cars but I always follow the recommended procedure of connecting the negative clamp of the dead vehicle to the engine ground and not the dead vehicle's battery ground.

Hope the Judge slaps the jerk around.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles