Battery light on, with new alternator+battery

[dan's 95 green SHO]

My 95 atx is ******* me off. The battery went, then killed a brand new one. Got alternator rebuilt (I guy I work with used to be a ford technician, he did it). Battery less than month old, alternator is two weeks since rebuild. My battery light is on and the car sounds like it is going to die when it is running(without radio, fan interior lights or anything). Starts fine. Boosted it, but light still on. I live really far from anywhere that does alternator testing and doubt car would make it. Too damn cold to tale it out Any Idea's shrug anyone????? shrug

 

[dan's 95 green SHO]

P.S thanks in advance for responces Guys, Appreciate it thumbs_u

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Well, the battery light could be faulty... but I doubt it!

Do you have a volt-meter? If you are far from anywhere to have your alternator checked... you need a volt-meter. boink

 

[SHOZ123]

The battery light tells you that the alternator is not keeping up with the rate that the battery is being discharged.

Go HERE for a better understanding of alternators and the battery light.

 

[Slo-Sho]

Have someone sit in the car while you wiggle the 3 wire connector on the alternator. These are notorious for coming loose inside the connector.

 

[performancered]

I would take your car to a auto store which does alternator and battery tests for free. Also try putting your battery on a slow/trickle charger and make sure it is fully charged. Sometimes when batteries are sold they are low from sitting on the shelf and if the car isn't driven a long distance the battery may be at a very low charge as city driving doesn't give the alt enough time to charge. Also the bad alternator may have also wrecked the battery before you got the new one. However as my brother went through 3 rebuilts on his old 93 ciera before we got the sho within a week. It could also be the alternator but exchanging that would be the last thing I try as it takes the most time and is least likely as ford alternators are better than the gm ones we went through and don't have the design flaws.

 

[dan's 95 green SHO]

I brought the car into the city to get alt tested, but four garages and partsource all told me to take the alt out before they could test it.... It that for real I thought you could do it on the car. Oh I tried the plug on the alt but no luck thanks though it was worth a try before driving in to the city

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

dan's 95 green SHO:
I brought the car into the city to get alt tested, but four garages and partsource all told me to take the alt out before they could test it.... It that for real I thought you could do it on the car. Oh I tried the plug on the alt but no luck thanks though it was worth a try before driving in to the city

Unfortunately, you do have do remove the alternator for them to "bench" test it. boink

The battery can be "load" tested while in the car, but the alternator has to be removed.

 

[dan's 95 green SHO]

It took me about three hours to get my alternator out the first time...... is it suppose to take a long time like that or am I just ******** shrug . Any one want to drive their SHO to winnipeg to do it for me HAHA!Of course not it is -40 here nobody would volunteer for that. I just hope that it should't take that long and I am just dumb... Three hours in -40 sucks

 

[Slo-Sho]

15 min and it's in your hands....my way. Remove battery, loosen belt tensioner (17mm) remove belt from alt pulley. Remove 10 mm bolt from main power wire attached to the casing, remove 3 wire plug from the top. Remove four bolts holding alt to bracket. Voila, it's out. wink

 

[dan's 95 green SHO]

You are a life saver... 15 minutes of freezing is better than three hours Thanks man.. Do you help with University courses too????? I will get at that dam alternator tomorrow or the day after because I have three midterms this week and I ain't been to any classes yey this term shrug Thanks Dan

 

[DJ SHO]

Yes, SLOSHO has the right idea. Probably the reason he knows the 3-wire plug can go bad on you is because he knows my car. Mine goes on when the motor tips (under acceleration). One of the wires in that connector is the one that turns the battery light on. If you can, check your battery terminals with a voltmeter to see if your alt is charging while the light is on. If it is, the problem is most likely that wire on the connector. The problem for me is, it's TOO DAMN COLD OUT to go and check which wire it is so I can fix it. I'll just live with it for now until it warms up a bit around here. Brrrrrr!!

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Good luck!

in that kind of weather the first thing Id do is invest in a pair of those "Mechanix" Gloves...

I now have 3 pairs...I got tired of scrapes and burns, not to mention the time I always spent scrubbing my skin off (grease) just to look presentable

One pair I use for REAL dirty stuff... greasy stuff, like packing bearings and such

another is for average maintenance involving diving my hands into the engine bay... or simply rotating tires

and the last pair for "clean" mainentance work. Typical everyday items like checking fluids, tire pressure, etc...

That is $60 worth of gloves... but I feel they are worth every penny boink

 

[Slo-Sho]

I've always been curious as to the kevlar lined gloves that police/ emergency personel use. I go through the mechanix gloves too quickly.

 

[SHOZ123]

NotSoSlowSHO:
Unfortunately, you do have do remove the alternator for them to "bench" test it. boink

The battery can be "load" tested while in the car, but the alternator has to be removed.

If you turn on all your electrical devices and rev the car to just above idle the battery voltage should be ~14.4V. If it is the alternator is working just fine. Anything above 13V but <14V means the alternator is working but is weak. Anything over 15V means the alternator is overcharging.

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

slosho:
I've always been curious as to the kevlar lined gloves that police/ emergency personel use. I go through the mechanix gloves too quickly.

they do wear out...well, just the finger tips

Do you have a link to check out these kevlar gloves?

 

[dan's 95 green SHO]

I started my car so I could test the voltage, but it died as soon as I put all the accessories on before I could test it. This has to be alternator right??

 

[Bizzy]

I had some problems with my car and the battery light comming on only at certain times while the engie was at about 3000rpm. I cleaned (with me dremel) the post on top of the alt, the wires on the alt, and as many ground wire connections as I could find. Then I sprayed a little battery terminal protector on that alt post. Haven't had a problems since, and the funn part is that the previous owner had replace the alt 2 times before for the same problem. My car got a brand new alt, from ford at just under 60k miles.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

you could have taken it to any sears or NTB, and for 9.95, they could have tested the battery, the alternator, and checked for any drains in the system.