Battery Light

[rjcj]

Hello All!

For a while now, my battery light flickers on and off rapidly. It seems to happen most when at low RPMs in lower gears. Also seems to occur when under moderate/intense acceleration, especially from a stop. The light always goes off after reaching my cruising speed, whatever that is. It seems to be staying on for longer periods of time now though, so I'm starting to get concerned.

I was thinking it could be the battery, the alternator or the drive belt. The belt is nice and tight so that might not be it. What do you guys think? What is the best way to troubleshoot this problem? Is it true that Autozone will test my alternator for free? Are they trustworthy? Can I test it easily by myself?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

-Ron
1994 MTX 105,000mi

 

[projectSHO89]

There is no doubt that somehing is failing in your electrical system

Possibilites include the alternator, the battery, or your cables.

AutoZone will test your battery in the car. They will test your alternator if you pull it out and bring it into the store.

Inspect your battery cable terminals for tightness and no corrosion. Clean and tighten as needed.

A qualified auto repair shop will check your car's electrical system's performance for a modest fee, usually 15-30 bucks, if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

Of course, they're hoping to get the repair work that is likely to follow.

Quickest way to trouble shoot it is to measure your battery voltage with the car off and the car running. A properly operating system will read around 12.6 volts with the engine off and around 14-14.5 volts with the engine running. This is only a gross check, you would really need to test everything under load.

Steve

 

[rjcj]

Well, I'll start off cheap and clean the terminals tonight.

Would the fact that I have UDP's have anything to do with my problem?

 

[naval-avi8or]

I'm almost positive you'll find your alt internal regulator is going **** up. I've had this happen several times. Best bet is to remove it and get it checked at autozone. If you have to get a new one I suggest getting one from autozone or napa or any where you get with a lifetime warrenty. I had to rebuild mine 2 times at 100 bucks a pop and I could have bought one and just replaced it for free every time it went out. Keep in mind its an electrical component and they can go bad at any time for no reason. The batt light comes on when the charging system is only putting out batt voltage if you continue to drive it there is a good posibility that you will ruin the batt as well so have the batt tested and fully charged prior to installing a new alt.

 

[ChitownA34DR]

naval is correct. I just tossed a new alternator in my car due to the fact the battery light was on. it started dim and slower started to glow brighter. Took mine out and replaced it, charged the battery and it runs great now. No more battery light.

 

[wannabeSHOman]

i think i'm in the same boat. who's got the best prices on lifetime alts.?

t.i.a.

 

[rjcj]

Thanks for your help guys. Got a new alternator and no more light!

FYI, Duralast alternator from AutoZone: $140 + $40 core charge.

-Ron

<small>[ July 03, 2002, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: rjcj ]</small>

 

[SHOnOFF]

rjcj:
Thanks for your help guys. Got a new alternator and no more light!

FYI, Duralast alternator from AutoZone: $140 + $40 core charge.

-Ron

Ron, did you remove and install the alternator yourself? If so, how difficult was it to do? Because I'm starting to have the same problem as you did on my 95 MTX. The light has flickered on and off sometimes (although I haven't seen it at all in the last few days)...I will be forced to do Something about it sooner or later. (knowing the SHO, it'll probably be "Sooner." )

 

[rjcj]

SHOnOFF:

Ron, did you remove and install the alternator yourself? If so, how difficult was it to do? Because I'm starting to have the same problem as you did on my 95 MTX. The light has flickered on and off sometimes (although I haven't seen it at all in the last few days)...I will be forced to do Something about it sooner or later. (knowing the SHO, it'll probably be "Sooner." ) )

Yep, I did it myself. It was fairly easy to do and I'm definitely not that mechanically inclined. I'd say the hardest part was removing the battery tray. My bolts sure were rusted in there pretty good. Basic hand tools and a little PB and you should be all set.

-Ron

<small>[ July 05, 2002, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: rjcj ]</small>