Charging system light and wont shift out of park

[96blackSHO]

i just got my car back from getting a new tranny installed. i have had the car no longer then 2 weeks and im haveing more problems. the other day when i was picking someone up i put my GEN III in park. then when i went to go put it in reverse the button on the shifter wouldnt go in. so i was messing around with it for a ocuple minutes and i relised that if i turn the key one click i can get the car in N then i can shift it from there. i called Kirk and he say it was some sort of switch kind of like a neutral saftey switch in the shifter that could be the problem. i went to a local ford dealership to try to find the part that was being the problem. they couldnt find out what part it was.
has this happened to anyone before and if so do u kno what the part i need is called or best yet the part number?
The other problem i am having is everytime i accelerate kind of hard the charging system light comes on. i noticed it the other week when i was getting onto the highway. it has pregressively been coming of under less of acceleration. i do have a 650watt amp for some subs in my trunk. im not using a capasitor and i was thinking i spiked my alternator or i destroyed my battery. i replaced the alternator no more then a year ago. saturday i was at auto zone picking up some cleaning supplys, and i had them run a quick test on ym alternator, that was my first mistake. they got the machine all hooked up and told me to hold it at 2000 rpm's. i did so and they kept saying go higher your only at 1200 rpm's. so i stopped and they kept saying my car was the problem that their machine works fine blah blah blah. then when the car was idling they said it was at 3000rpm's when it clearly wasnt. at that point i said screw it before they hurt my car. this week i am going to get a cap and an Optima yellow top battery and if that doesnt work i will probaly have the mechanic who replaced the alternator last time do it again this time with a for motorcraft alternator. i get 20% off all parts because i am a student at a vocational high school and they told me $215 for the alternator.
does anyone want to give their oppion on what they think the problem is?

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Matt,

you may be dead on with the sound system causing the issue for the waring light. Could also be you got a dud alt. Not unheard of with replacements.

As for the shifter, look at your brake pedal. There is an electrical connector on the stem of it. Check the wires on that and make sure they are not severed or frayed. If they are either replace that connector (BOO switch) or splice it back together.

 

[Motoman991]

I have a 640 watt amp in my sho and have had no problems with it. I also don't have a capacitor. With your charging light coming on under throttle it could be due to wires rubbing on the tranny under the MAF and throttle body. That exact same thing happened to my SHO with the battery light coming on under throttle until it stayed on and would die until I got the wires that rubbed through all patched up.

 

[96blackSHO]

i was on my way over to drop my car off at a local mechanic who just works out of his garage, and my dad notices i have no break lights, so i get out check the fuse and sure enough i have a blown brake ight fuse. that fixed the shifting out of park problem. as for the alternator problem i think when i replaced the alternator a year ago i got a cheap auto zone or somthing like that alternator, i looked and the one they sell for my car is 130 CCA, the one from the ford dealership that i got a price for was 180 CCA. i think that was my problem. too small of an alternator with too big of a sound system, so im waiting to hear back from my mechanic after testing the alternator and im gonna have him get one from the ford dealership this time.

 

[SHOZ123]

All the alternators are 130A, never seen a bigger one.

How many amps does your system draw? Output watts are kind of useless when figuring on power demands.

Do you have the Big 3 wires upgraded? What size wire is used for your amp power and ground?

 

[naval-avi8or]

i just got my car back from getting a new tranny installed. i have had the car no longer then 2 weeks and im haveing more problems. the other day when i was picking someone up i put my GEN III in park. then when i went to go put it in reverse the button on the shifter wouldnt go in. so i was messing around with it for a ocuple minutes and i relised that if i turn the key one click i can get the car in N then i can shift it from there. i called Kirk and he say it was some sort of switch kind of like a neutral saftey switch in the shifter that could be the problem. i went to a local ford dealership to try to find the part that was being the problem. they couldnt find out what part it was.
has this happened to anyone before and if so do u kno what the part i need is called or best yet the part number?
The other problem i am having is everytime i accelerate kind of hard the charging system light comes on. i noticed it the other week when i was getting onto the highway. it has pregressively been coming of under less of acceleration. i do have a 650watt amp for some subs in my trunk. im not using a capasitor and i was thinking i spiked my alternator or i destroyed my battery. i replaced the alternator no more then a year ago. saturday i was at auto zone picking up some cleaning supplys, and i had them run a quick test on ym alternator, that was my first mistake. they got the machine all hooked up and told me to hold it at 2000 rpm's. i did so and they kept saying go higher your only at 1200 rpm's. so i stopped and they kept saying my car was the problem that their machine works fine blah blah blah. then when the car was idling they said it was at 3000rpm's when it clearly wasnt. at that point i said screw it before they hurt my car. this week i am going to get a cap and an Optima yellow top battery and if that doesnt work i will probaly have the mechanic who replaced the alternator last time do it again this time with a for motorcraft alternator. i get 20% off all parts because i am a student at a vocational high school and they told me $215 for the alternator.
does anyone want to give their oppion on what they think the problem is?

First the in car alt test are not worth S%&$, you have to take the alt out and bench test it to get an accurate test. Kinda sucks on a GEN III since it's located in BFE and hard to remove. I would take the batt out and have it charged and tested first just incase you have a bad cell and its causing havock with your volatage reg.

As for the gear selector issue, make sure you haven't blown any fuses (check and see if the brake lights actually function), then the BOO switch and last but not least the wiring to the shift lock mech under the center console.

 

[96blackSHO]

All the alternators are 130A, never seen a bigger one.

How many amps does your system draw? Output watts are kind of useless when figuring on power demands.

Do you have the Big 3 wires upgraded? What size wire is used for your amp power and ground?

well then the ford dealer gave me wrong information on the alternator amparage.
i found a ** alternator of 200A online but it was a crazy $500+
i have 2 gauge wires going to my amp with i belive 6 gauge for my ground.
its a little excessive but im set up for if i ever want to upgrade my amp.
i got my car back and my mechanic said the alternators isnt putting out when it should be for amps and he said it was because of my system.
i am picking a new alternator up from the dealer today and i have to put it in asap, im suck driving an 02 slo till then.
does anyone want to tell me what i have to do to change the alt
i dont want to get in over my head, its only an alternator how hard could it be?
wut is the Big 3 wire upgrade?

 

[SHOZ123]

The alternator should burn itself up trying to provide the amperage needed for the load. You still haven't stated how many amps the amplifier uses. I doubt if it is much more than 80A.

2 ga is over **** but he 6 ga ground is the limiting factor. They both need to be the same size wire.

The Big three are alternator to Mega fuse, MEGA fuse to battery, Battery ground to block.

 

[naval-avi8or]

I don't think the amp is the problem. I have a Kicker 700.5 and it's rated at 935 max watts (600 cont) and I have had no problems.

 

[96blackSHO]

I don't think the amp is the problem. I have a Kicker 700.5 and it's rated at 935 max watts (600 cont) and I have had no problems.

like motoman said he has basically the same watt amp and he never had a problem
i think it was the alternator i put in a year ago
im picking a brand new ford alternator today and im gonna put that in.
im also gonna make sure i clean all the connections

 

[naval-avi8or]

like motoman said he has basically the same watt amp and he never had a problem
i think it was the alternator i put in a year ago
im picking a brand new ford alternator today and im gonna put that in.
im also gonna make sure i clean all the connections

TEST YOUR BATTARY.

 

[96blackSHO]

the guy that i dropped it off at when he tested the alternator he tested the battery as well

 

[medgraphsho]

alternartor was a 4-5 hour job for me the first time, doesnt count beer, bathroom , and tantrum breaks... you can get the alt. out from the passener wheel well, its tight like an 18 year old , but it can be done. I got my alt. from autozone $145

 

[96blackSHO]

i bite the bullet paid the $70 and i brought it to a local garage that i trust, 2 people got it done in 25 minutes. some how. so its in, and the light never went away, so i had the battery load tested again and same results, its fine, its a motorcraft tought tested battery, it seems to b a very nice battery. i got a capasitor as a late birthday gift from my parents so thats going in today once i figuar out how to charge it. then saturday im off to NESHO to have kirk run through the elecrical system. we think there is a wire rubbing somewere and grounding out causing the light to come on. AND i blew 3 brake light fuses yesterday alone. the past month has caused nothing but problems:banghd:

 

[96blackSHO]

My Problems Are Finally Over!!!!
after $212 on an alternator
$70 for installing alternator
and $5 in fuses
i find out that the problem was caused by the guy who put my tranny in.
the main wireing harness bracket that mounts to the transmission was ontop of a plug that goes into some black think ontop of the tranny and i moved it and everything works perfect

 

[medgraphsho]

who did your tranny????

 

[Motoman991]

My Problems Are Finally Over!!!!
after $212 on an alternator
$70 for installing alternator
and $5 in fuses
i find out that the problem was caused by the guy who put my tranny in.
the main wireing harness bracket that mounts to the transmission was ontop of a plug that goes into some black think ontop of the tranny and i moved it and everything works perfect

Haha shit, when my father and I replaced my tranny that thing got so bent up that we didnt put it back in. Then a few months later some wires got rubbed through and caused the alternator not to work.