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Battery light

A

Apex

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Messages
180
Location
T.O. Canada
I was reading the threads on the old forum, but would just like to confirm whether I should start yanking the alternator out tomorrow morning... :(

Here's the problem :

The battery light used to come on if revved above 4K rpm, but today it starting flickering on as low as 3K ( in the morning ), and went even lower ( anything above 2K rpm ) when I was driving home.

Could this possibly be the wire, or does it look like the alternator going for sure? I'm thinking it's the alternator going, as it looks to be getting worse and worse... :(
 
It certainly sounds like it. Wiring fix would be to remedy an inability to charge sufficiently at higher currents. The fact that the "level" it flickers at is dropping would have to mean your wires are getting
"thinner" or are breaking strands at a time.

Have you checked your output voltage, and battery voltage?

Alternator: lights on, voltage across terminals should be 13.2-13.7VDC
Battery: engine off, lights on for 60 seconds, voltage at terminals should be 12.0VDC or higher.

Of course, if its only flickering at higher rpms, you may have to clip the leads in and position it so you can get a reading while moving under load.
 
Ok, I just came inside, didn't have the chance to read that post until now. :)

I just finished changing the alternator, and the problem is completely gone.

Thanks for your detailed write-up, it was an enormous help. :)
 
i had posted this on the old boards....but my light is flickering and my headlights are dimming.....i did all the voltage tests on my car and at idle the car reads exactly like it is supposed to, but my headlights still dim and my light still flickers...
 
Ray said:
It certainly sounds like it. Wiring fix would be to remedy an inability to charge sufficiently at higher currents. The fact that the "level" it flickers at is dropping would have to mean your wires are getting
"thinner" or are breaking strands at a time.

Have you checked your output voltage, and battery voltage?

Alternator: lights on, voltage across terminals should be 13.2-13.7VDC
Battery: engine off, lights on for 60 seconds, voltage at terminals should be 12.0VDC or higher.

Of course, if its only flickering at higher rpms, you may have to clip the leads in and position it so you can get a reading while moving under load.
Click to expand...


not sure that I agree about the voltage across the battery when the high beams are on ... I checked my mothers 99 and it may have dipped down but it came back to 14.3 with the lights on, dipped to 12 volts when I cranked the AC on high with the lights on but came back to 14.3 volts ....

now in my situation the volt gage has been steady at about 14.7 volts for a year ... now it dips when I turn loads on, it seems to hold at about 14.2 at the moment with the lights on but add the AC and the voltage drops off to about 13.5 or so ...

now my flickering lights was the new alternator that I put in, sadly it was new itself ...

but the dimming at idle is still there when a lot of load is applied at idle ... now i check the voltage on the feed wire from the alternator and it was the same as the battery with the engine off, so was the sense wire for the voltage regulator ... yet I still have the volts drop off under large loads on the charging system ... no battery light at all ...
 
RawBurt said:
Ray said:
Wiring fix would be to remedy an inability to charge sufficiently at higher currents. quote]

So wait, your saying that with a battery light flickering on over 4500 RPM and dipping volts could be remedied by the wiring fix?
Click to expand...


Correct.


From the old forums on August 30, 2006,
"You know what I find funny... Out of the 12,000 some odd members on this site, noone has expereinced and solved the "battery light at high RPM" problem.

Oh well, by the sounds of it more and more CEG'ers are running into this. Someone is bound to figure it out." Rawburt

And in reply,

"Depends on which issue you are referring to.


the MOST COMMON high-rpm light is from floating brushes on the alternator, a sign of an aging alternator.

Solving involves either rebuilding the brushes (technically do-able, but not worth it to me...) or replacing the alternator.

There is another issue, which is fixed by GoldenTour's wire fix..." Ray.
Click to expand...
 
??

??

Ok guys. I had my alternator changed 3 years ago, and ever since I had the problem with the flickering alt. light at very high rpm-s...so that is fixed by the GoldenTour's wire fix right???
So, 6 months ago my alternator was changes with a brand new bosh one. 2 days ago, my battery light started to come on at 2k rpm and higher. then the light just stopped coming on, but i knew the alt was not charging because all my lights were dim. When i tested it, with engine off, it didn't show any signs of charging. So, it was still in warranty, i took it off, had it tested at AdvancedAutoParts..and they confirmed it was dead. So i got a new one (not rebuild), I put it in yesterday, and it was doing fine. Not even the flickering light at high rpms. And now, 30min ago, the lights started to come one at exactly 3k rpm....what the hell??? brand new alternator, battery is like 5months old, and the belt is also new...how can that idicate bad brushes, when this thing has only 100miles on it??
 
I checked it a few months ago when i changed the belt. it was right at the middle of these marks. haven't checked it lately. but, 2 days ago, when i drove, and right before the alternator died, it started to do the same thing...the light would come on after 4k, then it went to 3k and to 2.5k rpm...and then it just died. today, at first i came to a stoplight and the light came on. when i went over 2k rpm, light went off and alternator started charging...that went for about a mile. then i turned off the engine, strated the ***** up, and at idle was charging, but not over 3k rpm...why?

and say, if we assume it is the tensioner, it will also effect the power steering pump, ac condensor and everything that is attached to that belt...and all other things are normal...does that sound right, or am i being mistaken??
 
98 CSVT E0. i red about the fogs somewhere before. mine work fine. bulbs don't burn and are normal. i checked all the fuses 2days ago, because when the alternator died, my batetry light was not coming on, even when i started the car. so i though it might be a fuse problem...but all fuses were fine (the regular clear fuses where you can see the little wire inside)
 
well, here is a question. when my megafuse burned a cople of months ago the guys at the shop fixed it, and they held that cable with zipties...which later on broke and the cable fell loose, touched the egr tube, melted and shorted out, melting the tube along with it...so, they changed my egr tube, and put a brand new cable with a new mega fuse. howver, here is how they did it.

stock contour, has a cable running: positive battery terminal->starter->megafuse->alternator....right?
here's whet they did: positive battery terminal->starter (cable one) and then positive battery terminal->megafuse->alternator (cable two)

could that be causing some problems? also, when i was changing my alternator the other day, i saw that the ground wire at the coil pack was burned like hell, and was cut in two. i put a new wire in there, so i guess that can't be the problem...any ideas?
 
I think the wiring is an equivalent circuit based on this diagram:

Alternator.gif
[/IMG]

and this is the foglamps which do connect to the alternator as reference voltage

Foglamps.gif


Make sure that coil strap ground is really grounded to battery minus and other grounds, and check alternator case is grounded too.
 
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i think you are right. there's no ground wire at the alternator. it has two plugs (one single wire, and one with 3 wires) and the main wire that is bolted to the alternator...that's the one that should go to the megafuse and then the starter, but in my case it goes to the megafuse and the battery instead.
as far as the coil pack ground wire...i took a regular wire, put some terminals on it, and attached it to the same two points where the original ground wire should have been located (one end at coil pack bolt and other goes below the DPFE sensor)
 
ok, i just started my car this morning. it was fine, problem went away and then it just stopped charging. engine on, voltmeter shows 11.6-7 and stays there. its a 2 day old alternator, and died the same way the last one did...what's causing them to burn? what's the deal with the fog lights again??
 
8000RPM said:
ok, i just started my car this morning. it was fine, problem went away and then it just stopped charging. engine on, voltmeter shows 11.6-7 and stays there. its a 2 day old alternator, and died the same way the last one did...what's causing them to burn? what's the deal with the fog lights again??
Click to expand...


the fuse for the fog lamps in the enigne compartment fuse panel also controls the charging from the alternator, like I swapped mine out and blew that fuse and I had a battery light and no charging, new fuse I had charging and no battery light
 
i see, what fuse numer is that? but i don't get a battery light at all..and no charging for that matter. and i assume your fogs were not working when that fuse was blown, right?
 
8000RPM said:
i see, what fuse numer is that? but i don't get a battery light at all..and no charging for that matter. and i assume your fogs were not working when that fuse was blown, right?
Click to expand...


never checked the to see if the fog lamps where working, it is a 15 amp fuse, standing at the drivers fender looking to the pasanger side it was the thrid fuse when counting down on the left side of the box, might have been #3 according to the lid, iirc
 
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