Battery Light but volts work

[poissonverte]

Battery light is on constantly. Last time the alternator went out it slowly flickered to a constant on. Anyways, turned car on and tested the battery clamps and the battery posts with a volt meter and im pulling 10 volts. Turned lights on.. no change.. raced the engine a little no change...

Short somewhere??

 

[CerberuS]

Your Alternator is dead , go in a garage ASAP , before it drains all the power for your battery.

No jokes.

Car running = 14.4 Volts
Not runnin = 12 V

Below 10-9V = not starting.

And for everybody else , the batt light , ALWAYS means your alt is toasted.

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

^^^...battery light = alternator is toast..and it should putting out 12+ at least like he said.

 

[poissonverte]

Ahh, damn... Remanufactured alternator lasted me 1.5 years... Looks like ill be replacing it AGAIN. ) Thanks for the help.

 

[brucebender]

hang in there

The boys are correct. You should read dc voltage at 12 volts, and with the motor running, it should read 13 or 14 volts.

Dont't drive the car because with the alternator bad you may burn out your battery even though the car stills runs.

I,ve done a batterry and an alternaotr. It's not a bad job but it takes time.

If you need the intructions on it don't hesitate.

 

[poissonverte]

Gentleman the plot thickens.

Well, thanks to Oreilly I get a free alternator from the warranty. However, when i removed it I noticed the connection which goes to the battery the rubber hood was burned!! Im sure that fried the alternator, but I wonder what caused it??? Battery clamps are brand new

 

[CerberuS]

or the alternator fried them , incorrect alternator output can do alot of things , including scrapping your battery/wires.

 

[poissonverte]

Well, the alternator is fine, so says the testing machine at oreillys so im stuck with the same one.. Thumbing through the ford service manual, I may have blown the fuse link??? Im going to mess around with it tomorrow.. Once you start getting electrical gremlins, its all she wrote....

 

[ohfosho]

rewire it and go from there... possible that the cable was in bad condition, or damaged somewhere down the line, and it got close to a grounding point...

 

[poissonverte]

Will do. Ill post up when im done :type:

 

[SW SHO]

Not to hijack your thread, but I just replaced the Altenator, both Neg and Pos battery cables, had the battery tested and charged and the battery light is on.

Funny thing is the cars electrical went dead while driving (prior to replacement parts), would recharge but during a start would go dead again. So after reading here and having the battery tested/charged it was assumed the altenator was shot.

Buy new one, install...same issue. Last best option was to replace the cables, so I did both and now the battery light is on.

I've not tested the Volts yet, but could this altenator be bad out of the box? I've got a lifetime with NAPA, so no worries.

 

[marbs]

My battery light comes on at night. It has for about 4months if not longer. No problems to speak of.

 

[poissonverte]

SW SHO- its always a possibility its a bad alternator out of the box, unlikely, but possible.


Older cars and electrical gremlins.. gotta be scared of them

 

[SW SHO]

Your Alternator is dead , go in a garage ASAP , before it drains all the power for your battery.

No jokes.

Car running = 14.4 Volts
Not runnin = 12 V

Below 10-9V = not starting.

And for everybody else , the batt light , ALWAYS means your alt is toasted.

Just tested with these results:

Car Running: 14.92 Volts
Not Running: 12.59 Volts

??????????????? Battery light still on?????????????

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

There is a little clip connector that plugs into the alternator. This one wire clip reports the voltage to turn the battery light on/off. Unplug it and clean it out with carb cleaner or something and re-attach.

My battery light was coming on/staying on...and this connector got dirty/corroded and was causing the light. Once cleaned, I have yet to see it again.

 

[SW SHO]

I'll give it a shot and thanks for the tip. You are referring to the signle wire mounted to the right side of altenator (w/ nut and black boot)?

My light wasn't on before I replaced (Unnecessarily) the altenator? Only after replacing the cables and altenator. I can't image this altenator is bad but I suppose it's possible.

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

No, its a grap clip on connector. If it isnt hooked up...it would probably cause a battery light. Its on the side...and pretty much right in your face when you are looking at the alternator from the front of the car.

 

[poissonverte]

The big gray clip connector. Its the only one besides the one in the back with the boot.


Anways.. Put it back together since it still drove and figured I would drive it up the street and pay the shop... Well, put a new battery clamp on and tightened down the plug which had a black boot on it.. No battery light and seems to run great. Im thinking i didnt have that back little plug with the boot tightened so it worked it self loose and sparked and melted the boot..

Thanks everyone:type: :type: :type: :type: :type:

Chalk one up for the SHO.

 

[SW SHO]

Well I'm happy to hear your light is off.

I knew you guys were referring to the grey clip, but the first post indicated the 'single' wire clip.

Either way both were and are secure and clean. I even unclipped the 2 wire clip and the Volts are identical to the battery readings when off.

I hooked up the multimeter and ran the car at idle for about 1/2 hour with the lights on high beam, my radio at full strenghth, and the a/c on. Readings started at 14.59 and dropped down to 12.37, (it dropped mostly when the radiator fan was at high speed), and continued to drop really slowly.

I drove it for about 20 mins, went to dinner, drove home and shut it off and re-tested with a result of 13.54. So, I don't think it's the altenator. I realize the Volts have dropped from the original readings, but I would think they would drop a lot more if the altenator wasn't charging the system when running.

I'm trying to avoid a confrentation with the parts store and having to replace it again. Any other thoughts?

 

[poissonverte]

Try pulling codes?? Might be something there. Other than that, I dont have a clue. Replace the battery clamps?