Battery/Charge Indicator Light

[jbserra]

My battery idiot light came on a while ago. My battery since died. I replaced the battery, and the light remains on. I went and had the alternator tested, and all appears fine. I was told to inspect the connections on the starter for corrosion. I found a fair amount of junk and sprayed them clean. The light remains. Any ideas?

 

[Camarok]

you might need to take some connectiongs off.... cleanign the out sides of them won't do too much seeing as that's not making contact with anything. On the drivers side fender there is the starter solinoid, un screw some of the bolts, and get yourseft some dielectric grease, this will help make good connections, and make sure there is nothing really in there, like rust or anything like that..... I see you are from Milwuakee, where at, i'm bronw deer, maybe i can come by and take a look at it for you.... if you have see MiltownSHO, he's a buddy of mine, maybe we can both make an appearance and get you back on the road!

 

[jbserra]

Hey, thanks for the offer! I'm in Menomonee Falls, just south of County Line Rd near hwy 45.

I'll be crawling under the car after work today. I will look for the solenoid. I thought it was the thing attached to the starter...

 

[MilTownSHO]

I'd bet money it's your alternator or the ground wire to the alternator, my alternator died on my old red 92 died, it started with the battery light coming on occasionally, is yours on all the time, or just at certain times? Could also be your belt...

I can shoot over there and help you inspect/diagnose if you wish.

My old red 92 went through 4 before I finally got a good one! It would SHOw ok during the test, but it was only charging sometimes. Finally died on me while going down the highway. I wouldn't recommend driving it until you figure it out!

 

[Camarok]

is yoru sho green.....???? cause i think i've seen it..... like right before brisco county? Yah you're like 10 min away dude!

yeah alternator... got a new one like 3 months ago... bearings are taking a crap.... squealing around and stuff.... i guess alternators for these cars are hard to get a hold of... well good ones anyways.....

Yeah just tell us a time or a day, and one or both of us can stop by!


EDIT ----->>> duh.... i'm stupid, your sig says red sho, and you said south of county line rd, not on it..... and yes, right by your air box, there is a little square box thing, with 2 thick **** wires coming off of it along with some smaller gauge wires.... that's the starter solinod... and yes most cars DO have the solinoid ON the starter.... Ford....

 

[jbserra]

ok, ok...

I forgot to mention the squeeling. But that seemed to be tied to the AC, and when I adjusted the belt tension it mostly went away. When I turned off the AC it didn't happen, so I guess I can rule that out...

I will have the alternator retested today.

I pulled the starter, cleaned the contacts and the connectors on the wires that hook up to it. Solenoid is on the starter, btw. No luck.

I adjusted the belt. Tried tighter, tried looser. No luck.

I reset the computer codes. No luck.

I checked/cleaned the connectors on the alternator. No luck.

FYI, the light is on ALL the time. It's not intermittent...

Thanks MiltownSHO for some phone support last night. I will get the alternator tested today, but that's about all I will have time for because I'm heading out of town today (I'll take my other car). If the test shows the alternator good again, what does that leave? An electrical problem? If it gets to the point of looking for a short, I may leave that to a mechanic...

 

[SHOZ123]

There is a 500 ohm resistor in parallel with the charge indicator light on the IP. If this is blown the light would be on all the time.

 

[jbserra]

I have to pull the instrument panel to get at this? How time consuming is that?

 

[SHOZ123]

Well yes you have to pull the IP. And it takes some time. Disconnect the speedo cable under the hood at the union and things are a lot easier. While you have the IP out you could just pull the light bulb out.

 

[jbserra]

Thanks all!

It ended up being the circuitry in the alternator that controls the idiot light. Had to replace the whole stinkin alternator, even tho the alternator part worked fine...

Light's out!

 

[SonicRiot]

When the battery light comes on, your concern is not the battery. It is the alternator or the circuitry and wiring. It is not actually a battery light, it is a charging system warning light.


Glad you found the problem.