When the vehicle is accelerated the light goes off. When I stop it comes back on, so it seems that the alternator is not charging when the vehicle idles. Could this be a bad belt or maybe the alternator. Charged the battery all night it has 12.40 volts, and is only 1 yr old. At idle the reading on the battery slowly starts dropping, then goes up when under acceleration.
View 19 RepliesLast night, while my wife was driving, the battery light on her instrument panel started flashing. This morning the battery light came back on when she started the car. As she was driving on the highway, the ABS light, the stability light, and couple other lights came on, plus her she was losing power to her wheels. She said it then felt like the car was towing a heavy object and that there was no power going to the wheels or any other part of the car. She was able to drive it a few miles to a parking lot, where it died.
When she tried to restart it, she heard a clicking sound, but had no power and the engine was not turning over. She could not remote lock the doors because the all power was gone.
The tow truck driver tested the car and said the battery is fine, but that the alternator was dead. She had it towed to the dealer, who also says it is the alternator that is the problem.
This all occurred after we had a previous, and resolved issue, to the instrument panel (including the light around the cigarette lighter) and the taillights going out intermittently. The dealer disconnected the electrical connection to the towing package and the lights have stayed on since.
Seems odd to have an alternator go on a two-year old vehicle (we bought it new in Jan 2011). Could it actually be the alternator or something else?
OK I have 14.04 volts at the batteries with the engine running but my battery light is on. I had the alternator checked off the engine and on the engine and it tests good. Shows good batteries and good charging. Is there something internal to the alternator that would make the light come on even though the alternator is charging ok? Or is there something else that would make the light come on. This is on a 1999 F250 Superduty Powerstroke 7.3.
View 14 RepliesMy alternator quit charging last night. Was pretty much a sudden onset as I was driving down the road and left off the accelerator the battery light came on and lights dimmed a bit. When I stepped on the accelerator again they bat. light went off and the lights came back up.
At idle I'm at 11.77v. I've pulled the plug on the back of the alternator and I'm getting voltage on both the red and green wires that go into the plug with the engine running. Is this correct?
Pretty much as the title says, I'm having an interesting electrical gremlin. Ford 7.3 super crew 2002 lariat LE.
I have batteries from 2015 that are losing their charge, both of them. It's like the alternator isn't charging them. Truck will struggle to start until jump started, then she's fine.
Symptoms are:
ABS light comes on when as best I can tell the batteries aren't getting charged. Not the battery indicator.
Now that the batteries are low enough, on the instrument cluster the little light the powers the mile LCD screen dims when it's not getting power (but it's fine when the batteries have charge.)
All accessories work when driving, but I haven't been able to drive a long while on the "not charging phase" to see how low they're go.
Batteries register dead (now) because they haven't gotten charge in a while.
When the alternator IS charging or "connected" I can leave the truck idle and she'll charge the batteries, truck will start just fine on the next run (no parasitic drain.)
Driving causes this to happen randomly, doesn't happen when I'm stationary, nor do I believe it CHANGES state (so if I'm idle it won't suddenly NOT charge if it was charging before.)
Narrowed down to 2 probable things.
Alternator
Bad alternator to battery cables
We've got a 2012 F550 6.7 with 138k. It recently got a battery light. The batteries are right around 12 volts with the truck running or off. I also tested the output on the alternator and its not charging. I put a new alternator in it and still no charge. All the connections are tight and clean. The batteries load test ok. Where to look next?
View 4 Repliesfor some reason my battery light flickers when im driving regular and on the highway. I have had both batteries checked and they were at 50 percent charge and both were good so therefore I assumed it was my alternator. I removed alternator had it check and it passed all test. Everything was checked at o'reilly and autozone
View 8 Replies'07 FWD Santa Fe exhibits pretty loud "'gear whine" with light acceleration.
Recent ATF change got loads of nasty gook and metallic sludge out of trans.. but no change in gear whine.
Dumb question, but do 2wd Santy's have a differential that I can drain and refill to quieten this whine down a little?
I have a 2009 Santa Fe Limited with 82000 miles. I have replaced four (4) batteries since it was purchased, new, in March, 2010. I have repeatedly taken it to the Hyundai dealerships in Las Vegas, Nevada and Centennial, Colorado, for an oil leak on the valve cover over the alternator. At no time has the service technicians at the dealerships ever told me there was problem. Last Thursday, the latest new battery, installed that same day, failed. I had my independent garage technician assess the multiple battery failures, with the associated battery display light illumination, related to the location of the continual oil leak. He stated that the cause of the battery failures was from the oil damaging the alternator. I contacted Hyundai Customer Service, today, and was told that there have no reported problems from oil leakage onto the alternator, with subsequent damage to it, and/or the battery.
View 3 RepliesMy sister has a 2011 Santa Fe that was making some noise so she had it looked at at a local Monroe, which then said that the Alternator Pulley is loose. I haven't had the chance to look at the car myself, but in this case, would it be possible to replace just the pulley? Or will I have to replace the whole alternator?
The guys from Monroe said the alternator will have to be replaced as a whole. But from pictures I'm seeing online, it looks like the pulley is held by a 6-point nut, with a torx screw in between to counter hold the rotation. I can also see some listings on eBay for just the pulley. So I'm thinking I could start off by tightening the nut or replace the pulley if it's dented or off shape. Will I have to replace the whole alternator?
Picked up a 2000 Explorer XLS for my 16 year old son to drive. It looks and runs great but it needed a new alternator. Long story short, 3 shiny new alternators from AutoZone later, it still acts like it needs a new one. If I check voltage at the alternator, while running, it's never over 12.5V. As I turn on accessories, the voltage drops down to 11.7 and doesn't come back up. When I turn it off, the battery slowly creeps back to 12.5V. The 30 amp fuse is good as is the 175amp fusible link. Shouldn't I have 14+ volts out of a brand alternator?
View 9 RepliesAbout 5 months ago had a friend who I had to boost a bunch cause he kept leaving his lights on. his alternator was dead after a while and he borrowed my battery to get him to the service station. two weeks later my battery died. I bought a new battery from advance.
everything went fine other than a small headlight/tail issue that's been with the car since I bought it but never seemed to present itself other than one tail light never working and one headlight not working.
about 2 weeks ago i stopped at a filling station and my car wouldn't start.
battery checked good, alternator was bad. got a used alternator off of another volvo i own (same kind, reman off of a 1989 740GL) at first the alternator was reading low at 11.5 volts, i decided to chance it and it failed me on the highway, went back with a fresh battery the next day and drove it home. now I have since had the alternator at two places, at some old timer electro mechanic and he said it read 14.5...didn't trust him....went to the new autozone and they tested it as PASS at 14+.... put the alternator back on the car and it's still not charging.
the car runs fine other than it ain't charging. the alternator failure light is on, along with the two brake lights and bulb failure (which is to be expected because of particular system construction).
is there a fuseable link that might be burnt through? is there any other main voltage lines or regulators I should look for? main fuses?
1987 Volvo 740GLE 400,xxx miles. New Battery, 2003 Reman'd Alternator, 2004/5 replaced postive terminal and wire, countless number of small electrical flaws.
Battery symbol light appeared on dash, After determining battery was good, I removed alternator and took it to have it bench tested at the parts store. It tested bad so I purchased a rebuilt alternator and had it bench tested before I left the store and it tested good. I installed it and it won't charge the battery. Tried a new battery...same thing. I tested the voltage at the battery and it reads 12.3 and the same with engine running. Engine runs until battery is drained. I removed the alternator and took it to a different store and they bench tested it good also!
View 8 Replies1997 Explorer belonging to a friend who will show up complaining that his battery is dying. Of course, the problem is intermittent.
So far, tried 2 new alternators, (rebuilds), 3 batteries and several diagnostic sessions which have been inconclusive. What I do know is that when the charging system is not working, I still have full battery voltage on the Y/W and LG/R wires on the small wire plug at the alternator. The path from the alternator output through the megafuse to battery + does seem to be intact. Measures full battery voltage and even tried a test by using a battery booster cable to connect the alternator output directly to battery + when the system was not charging.
No change with this test. Visual inspection of the engine to firewall ground strap and the battery - to rad cradle ground wire seem to be OK. Have not had the opportunity to try the jumper cable trick to verify the alternator case to battery - circuit, (darn intermittent!). There did seem to be something intermittent related to a wiggle test in and around the power distribution fuseblock, but once again, this was inconclusive. I also was able to make the charging system fail, (once) by turning on the headlights and blower motor.Any specific failures that may cause this? Not much left to change or check!
Is there a fusible link from the alternator to the battery? The new alternator that I put on and got tested is not charging the battery. Was wondering if it could be a fusible link but I couldn't find it. Where it is located on a 2000 ranger?
Also, I put a DC volt meter on the negative side of the battery and the positive side of the CHARGING wire that would be connected to the alternator and got the same reading as if I put the meter on the positive of the battery.
Does this mean the fusible link is good?
I have a 2002 ford taurus with a basic 3.0 v6 . The alternator stopped charging the battery.
New alternator
New battery
New pcm
Still nothing, this has been causing me the biggest headache. Alternator is pcm controlled btw...
I have a 2003 F350 6.0. I had a flickering Battery lt on the dash last week so I replaced the Alternator. People recommended I upgrade to the 2005 140 amp alt from my stock 110. I have a single alt system. So I did, today it died on way to work. Batteries were drained. Had new alt checked and its fine. So All I have is a wiring diagram from 99-2002 but it shows the plug on the alt with 2 wires, Lt grn/red from switched ign and Org/Lt Blu which goes to batteries. Org/Lt blu has 12v but Lt green/Red has nothing with ign sw on. I did check fuse 45 in Central J box and have power there. I did notice I have no battery Lt on dash when you turn Ign sw on, and never got the Lt this morning when it died. What Im confused about is do I have a PCM? my diagrams that only go up to 2002 model show it for a 2 alt sys but not for a single alt. I should have power on Lt Grn/red with ign sw on correct? Everyone said 2005 alt was plug and play, the elec connector is now pointed down, where it was pointed up on the orig alt, look to be wired the same.
View 7 RepliesI bought a truck recently and I am attempting to get the alternator to charge. A previous owner hacked up the wiring pretty badly. We found that they had connected the voltage regulator to the horn relay for some reason. Anyway, I am trying to get it rewired and have searched existing threads for info and I thought that I had the wiring sorted out, however it is still not charging the battery.
The alternator has been tested and works. The voltage regulator is new. This is how it is currently wired.
Regulator A Terminal --> Battery side of started solenoid --> Alternator Batt Post
Regulator F Terminal --> Alternator Fld Post
Regulator S Terminal --> Alternator Sta Post
Regulator I Terminal --> Empty
Regulator body --> Radiator Support --> Alternator Ground Post --> Neg batt
When running, the battery is showing about 11.8 and slowly dropping as it runs. The truck has an ammeter in the dash, however it looks like it is no longer connected. Does it need to be connected in order for the alternator to charge the battery?
2001 ranger with 4.0, alternator failed and new alternator is also not charging, showing very little output. i've installed 2 new ones with no fix. the regulator is in the alternator, correct? I'm stumped and not sure where to go with this.
View 14 RepliesI *think* I'm having trouble with the alternator on my 2002 Navigator with the 5.4L DOHC engine.
A year ago in Feb 2014 the alternator quit charging. I thought the headlights were a little dim, but when the radio turned itself off and then the heater fan did the same, I noticed that the alt light was on. Then the engine shut down about 1.5 miles from home.
I'd heard of war stories about rebuilt alternators so I sprang for a brandy new one. I also got a voltmeter that fits in the cigarette lighter so I can monitor the system voltage. All seemed good and the new alternator put out 14.2 to 14.5 volts. Except that the battery never seems to be fully charged. If I check the battery voltage with the engine off it typically reads 11.9 to 12.2 volts. I had Interstate Batteries check the battery. They thought it was okay, but offered to put a new battery in to keep me happy.
Six months and 8,000 miles later I'm up in Ontario back country (on vacation - no tools in the truck) and I notice the engine idles at 900 RPM instead of the usual 650 +/- RPM. Oh-oh, I also notice the volt meter is reading 11.9 volts and drops a tenth about every 10 miles.
Found a shop that was open and they installed a rebuilt alternator and it was putting out 14.2 to 14.5 volts. All was good (except for my wallet!).
Now, here we are six months and 5,000 miles later and the rebuilt alternator is struggling to put out 12.5 volts this afternoon. At a steady 50 MPH with the cruise Control on, the radio, and the heater fan on low, the voltage is bouncing between 12.2 volts and 12.7 volts.
Now to my questions:
1. Shouldn't an alternator put out 14.2 to 14.5 volts all the time? Not just when the alternator is new?
And
2. Is there anything on my truck that could be killing these alternators? Or am I just unlucky in the alternator lottery?
I ve been noticing that the alternator isn't charging correctly, or at least it seems like it. We drive short trips sometimes two times a day, a mile or less. One day, night actually, I noticed it started to not turn over with it's usual enthusiastic sound. When the batteries get discharged to a certain point, the voltage at idle will be less than 12 volts. If I rev the engine for a bit, the volts jump up, but at idle it drops back to 12 or below. Seems to me that it should be at least 12v or above if the batteries are discharged, and more towards 12.5ishV if the batteries are fully charged.
After I put it on a 6A charger overnight, the voltage upon starting is above 12, sometimes over 13. But if the batteries start to dwindle down from short trips, the voltage drops to 12 or below at idle.
I did install the smaller pulley a few years back, and that worked massively. I couldn't get 12V at idle before installing the smaller pulley. But now it seems like I'm back to that same situation before installing the smaller pulley.
So, I m guessing that a alternator bench test is in my future? The batteries are fairly new, tho they have been down to nothing at least twice from boneheaded moves by yours truely!
And, I'm speculating that this charging situation contributed to the recent FICM replacement that I went thru.