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battery light flickering

C

CarpePoon

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jan 5, 2002
Messages
1,905
Location
Grand Blanc, MI
I have a battery that is exactly 1 year old. and have not had ANY problems with starting or weak starting. But I noticed this morning on my way to work while idling at a stop sign that my battery light was flickering. I gave the engine a quick rev and it went away.
Then when I was almost to work I was shifting through the gears accelerating and noticed when the RPM's got about 2.5k the light would dimly start coming on again and get brighter as the RPMs increased. Anybody know what this is? a loose wire? should I get my alternator checked? I dont want to go out to my car and have it dead in the middle of winter.
 
That's what mine did when my alt started going. :nonono: I'd double check yours, mine lasted about 2 days from then till it died totally. Good luck.
 
Well the situation just got stranger last night on my way home from work. My dash lights were super dim to the point that I could barely see them, but headlights were as bright as normal. As for the alternator theory thats what I thought. But I have high power stereo in my car which would certainly drain my battery if it was not being charged?? I would almost rather have it be the alternator than some electical gremlin. Well I'll stop by autozone on my way home from work and get it checked out.
 
ive got the exact same thing, all my lights dim until i step on the gas, and once every 3-4 days my battery light flickers at idle, so goodbye alternator i presume.
 
S2K, don't ignore an alternator problem. My girlfriends car had a battery light in low RPM's for the first time on Saturday morning. After about 1 hour of driving that day, the car died coming off the highway. Prior to that day, there was never a single problem with the alt. It just crapped out from one day to the next.

I spent my day Sunday replacing it for her in the cold and snow. :mad:
 
CSVT1214 said:
S2K, don't ignore an alternator problem. My girlfriends car had a battery light in low RPM's for the first time on Saturday morning. After about 1 hour of driving that day, the car died coming off the highway. Prior to that day, there was never a single problem with the alt. It just crapped out from one day to the next.

I spent my day Sunday replacing it for her in the cold and snow. :mad:
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your wasting your time, he isn't going to listen ... :rolleyes:
 
Carpe, that sounds kinda backwards from what I would expect. Normally headlights and stereos will kill a battery fast. Good luck, let us know what happens.
 
Wow, good call guys, I dont think I could have cut it any closer either. I drove to work today in silence (no stereo) and asked for a half day out of fear of it cutting out on me at night. I drove home and went to the local autozone which is less than 3 blocks from my house. they tested it and said the alternator was producing .6 volts. while testing it the battery died. I bought the new alternator and they jumped it and told me to hurry home before the battery completely died. I backed the car up to the garage and left it runing so I could clean some stuff out of the back of it to give me more room. While cleaning the garage I heard the car sputtering. I jumped in the car and backed it in as good as I could and the car died. Now I have a very fun day infront of me.
 
ROOOOOIIIIGHT.....

yeah, got the car jacked up, splash guards off and said WTF!! Came back and looked at the how-to and immediatly called my shop. I dont have the tools or the time to mess with this job. The car is charging right now for the 2 min drive it will make tomorrow morning to the shop.
 
now whats weird is i tested the battery and alternator today, the battery was good and the alternator was within spec, dont know exact amps, but all i know is that it is good, so my teacher thinks that i might have a bad ground... so im going to extend a ground wire from the negative terminal and ground it to the block to see if that does anything i dont know if it will but maybe the alternator, or battery is going and it just barely passed the test, i dont know but i dont have the money to replace both, and from the what i saw on alldata to replace the alternator that doesnt look fun at all...
 
S2knott - so how did you determine your alternator was good. Didiyou check voltage at the battery terminal? If so what was it when the car was running. You better have no less then 13.4 to 13.8 volts at the battery. Turn on the lights and accessories and see what you have.
I will bet anything that your alternator is shot!

These cars for some reason loose alternators after a certain amount of miles.
I think it is due to heat and lack of airflow in the mounting location - just a theory.
Word of advice don't go for an aftermarket rebuild, get one Ford. Aftermarket one don't seem to hold up whether it's lack of quality control or the cheap regulators they use.
 
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CarpePoon said:
$450, $200 of that was the alternator. I had them replace a stripped wheel stud while they were at it
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I had to spend over a grand in a month cause pepboys put in a bad alternator. then i went to the Dealer so they could do it. but luckily i got my money back from the pepboys alternator.

$500+ $100 (for a new battery) at pepboys (oh took the car back to pepboys cause a month after they changed the alternator, they said i had a bad battery so i got a new battery too.)
$700 at The dealer :(


I got F' in railed....
 
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