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Battery light flickers at idle

bonsai

New CEG'er
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
10
Sorry if this has been addressed before -- I looked around the forums and only saw issues related to the battery light coming on at high revs....

Anyway, yesterday my battery light started flickering with the engine idling. Within a few seconds of opening the throttle the light goes out. It seems that 1500-2000 rpm is enough to make it turn off. The battery is only about a year old and seems fine -- it reads 12.5V with the engine off, and the indicator bubble on the battery itself says it's charged (though I know that doesn't necessarily mean much). With the engine idling and the battery light flickering I read 12V across the battery terminals. When I open the throttle the voltage jumps to 14-14.5V, depending on whether any lights or accessories are on. When I return to idle it sometimes maintains this voltage (and the battery light doesn't flicker), but it usually drops back to 12V and the battery light goes back to flickering within 30 seconds or so.

I had a bit of corrosion on my negative battery terminal, which I cleaned thoroughly. It made no difference. The drive belt is in excellent condition and the tensioner indicates the tension is fine.

I'm not really certain how to proceed with the troubleshooting from here. My impression is that if the alternator were the problem I'd be seeing the battery light come on at high rpms, not low. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Alan
 
Check all wiring from battery to alternator and battery to ground. Make sure none are kinked or chaffed or one of the grounds are not loose where it is bolted to the chassis. The one that goes under the battery is notorious for coming loose.

In addition, how old is the alternator. It should read 14 to 14.5 V at idle.

Edit. And read GoldenTour's alternator light fix.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...er=1043318&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1
 
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Check all wiring from battery to alternator and battery to ground. Make sure none are kinked or chaffed or one of the grounds are not loose where it is bolted to the chassis. The one that goes under the battery is notorious for coming loose.

I'm still in the process of checking the wiring down by the alternator, but the wiring around battery looks pretty good. The problem actually went away for a day or so, then yesterday the light started coming on with the engine revving and going out during idle. Once I'm done inspecting the wiring I think I'm going to have Autozone run an alternator test. I'm not sure yet whether replacing it is something I want to tackle myself, but if I'm lucky I won't have to make that decision....

In addition, how old is the alternator. It should read 14 to 14.5 V at idle.

The alternator is original, though my 1999 SE only has 60,000 miles on it. When the battery light is out it does, in fact, read 14-14.5V, and about 12V when the light on.

And thanks for the pointer to GoldenTour's fix! Don't know yet whether it will help me, but I'm working on it.
 
Well, I decided to wuss out on the alternator replacement even before having it tested and took it to a mechanic. He said the charging system checks out just fine, but I have oil leaking onto the drive belt and causing it to slip. It must be making it pretty slick, because it sure doesn't make any noise when it slips! He wants me to have the engine cleaned so he can see where it's leaking -- he doesn't do that in his shop -- but if I can figure it out myself I might attempt to do the repair at home too.

I've been warned against steam cleaning before and the one place I knew that did it stopped because they had so many problems with it, so I guess my next job is to figure out how to get the engine clean enough to find the leak. I'm going to ask the mechanic for suggestions when I pick the car up, but he has already suggested steam cleaning....
 
reach on in there and wip it down with a degreaser. Anything that he could find "leaking" by his eye, you can see/touch anyway. If you can't reach to clean it with a rag, then you couldn't see it to tell its leaking from there anyway!

clean it down with something that breaks up/removes oil, check to make sure its dry/clean in that area (where the oil residue is currently at, and then watch. if no leaks, start the car and watch. If no leaks, drive the car 2 or 3 miles and the peek at it.

You'll see the leak begin to appear/creep from its source.
 
I cleaned everything up as well as I could, using a whole lot of Simple Green in the process, and the belt certainly seems to be slipping a lot less now (or at least the charging system is working a lot better than it did before). Right now I suspect I may have two leaks, the crankshaft seal behind the crankshaft pulley and the power steering pump. The mechanic's theory is that the leak from the crankshaft seal comes out onto the pulley, which then slings the oil all over the engine. If he's correct, getting visual confirmation might be tough. Power steering is working well, though the fluid is slightly low, so for now I'm just going to refill the reservoir and keep an eye on it. Once I stop slinging oil around the engine comparment I'll give the pulleys one last good cleaning and replace the serpentine belt to eliminate slippage once and for all.

As for replacing the crankshaft seal, it seems to be in a tough location to reach. Aside from the fact that I'll have to buy new jack stands and a breaker bar if I do it myself (I lost mine in my last move), plus a puller to get the pulley off, how difficult a job is it? Autozone lists three types of seals I could use here, Viton, Teflon, and "Kwik Sleeve" -- any special advantage to any of them, or should I just go for the Viton and save a few bucks?

Once I stop slinging oil around the engine I suppose I should give the pulleys another good cleaning and replace the serpentine belt....
 
.... The mechanic's theory is that the leak from the crankshaft seal comes out onto the pulley, which then slings the oil all over the engine. ......
Someone had this issue a few months ago and posted some pictures in the old forums.

Edit. Read this thread.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...allposts&Main=1281392&Search=true#Post1281392

Actually, this is the thread I was referring to but the pictures are gone. Harmonic balancer.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...er=1158370&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1
 
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I ended up having oil seeping from about four different places, some of them quite difficult to reach without major engine disassembly. In the end, I paid a professional to do it and it still took him a week. Got my car back now and it's working great, though, so I'm happy (and a lot poorer...).

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions and advice!
 
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