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Battery keeps dying?

  • Thread starter Thread starter green SVT
  • Start date Start date
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green SVT

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Ok well the battery light came on a couple days ago. After driving that night the battery just died about halfway home. The tach, speedo kicked off and then the car. I charged the battery but it only holds the charge for an hour or two or 5-6 starts. So....could this be the alternator or something else? I think the alternator is the orginal. I got under the car and took everything apart to get the alternator out, but I could not (I hate this thing soooo bad) get the main bolt to break that holds the alternator bracket on. SO I am going to take it to the dealer. So any suggestions?
 
if the battery died while driving it, i would say the alternator is dead. How many miles are you on?

My alternator on the svt died around 70,000 i think. The alternator is in a rediculously hard place to get to as well. i bought a refurbished one with lifetime warranty, and tried to put it in myself to save money. I could not come anywhere near close to removing the old one, so i just had it towed to the shop.

Theres a lot of how-to's for alternator replacement that include tips like using 4 feet of ratchet extensions or something, but i found it impossible. I'd say take it to a shop if you dont have experience taking apart engines.
 
Yeah it dies when I'm driving. Even more when I use the lights. So I assumed that it was the alternator. The car has 160k but the motor has 50k. But the alternator looks really old so I'm assuming that it is an original or maybe first replacement. I also attempted to get out the alternator. I got the control arm off, all of the splash guards, and went the above route and took out the coil pack to get to that bolt. The "how to" that I found on old CEG really made the task of taking off that main bolt easy. But it WASNT! I worked on it from 3 hours, pb blaster, but there was no room for any type of leverage. Eventually I just gave up and put the car back together. Its going to the dealer after Christmas. I hate who ever designed the motor place the alternator in the back surrounded by assloads exhaust pipes, wiring, and other misc ****. My hands are so scraped up...oh well the alternator swap consumes another.
 
my friend had the same prob on his 89 bmw. we took the alternator out and got it tested. it was good. then i relized there was not enough tension on the belt for the pulley. got it all tightened up and it was fine. i dont know if that will work for the contour being as i have never looked but its a thought.
 
The "BATTERY" light is actually a "CHARGING SYSTEM" light. Usually it is the alternator but could also be the wiring. It is not the battery, although by now the battery may be shot.

Most new batteries are not fully charged when installed. Even if it is, it doesn't take all that long for it to go flat with the charging system not working.

Pretty much, a red light on the dash means it needs immediate attention, just like a red traffic light means stop now. An amber dash light is more advisory, telling you that something needs attention but it may not be critical. What color is the "Battery" light? I've never seen an amber "Battery" light.
 
well the battery light is red. It flashes depending on the Rpm. If its at idle its very dim, but if rev it up the light comes on strong. The battery is a yellow top and its pretty new. I had it checked so its fine. So I'm assuming its the alternator. My wireing harness needs replaced. I'm hoping SOOOOO hard its not that. I bought the new harness but there is little chance I would be able to afford to get it installed.
 
green SVT said:
well the battery light is red. It flashes depending on the Rpm. If its at idle its very dim, but if rev it up the light comes on strong. The battery is a yellow top and its pretty new. I had it checked so its fine. So I'm assuming its the alternator. My wireing harness needs replaced. I'm hoping SOOOOO hard its not that. I bought the new harness but there is little chance I would be able to afford to get it installed.
Click to expand...
Check alternator wiring connections. Battery to alternator, battery to ground, etc. In addition, some CEGers have change the wiring harness and have posted their "fun" experience. CSVT#49 comes to mind. IIRC Fastcougar has done it before too.

CSVT#49 thread.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...er=1121805&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1
 
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Samething happened to me last week. It's probibly the alternator. That was my problem. Have fun with that one, I paid $230 (that's with the core charge) just for the alternator. Also putting it in is a nightmare. I tried, gave up, and towed it to my mechanic. Best of luck with everything though.
 
After pulling my alt. last nite and seeing what was envolved. I don't think it would be that hard the 2nd time around. YES, it was hard to do last nite it took me forever but I found a different way to get it off. I think my way was much easier to do than to take off the coil pack or take it off from the drivers side using 3' of extensions. :eek: I NEVER TOOK OFF ANY CONTROL ARMS?!?!?!?:eek: That seems a little ridiculus to me.
 
Well I got the alternator off. Man that post on how to do it was so retarded. I finally saw that if you used like 3' of extentions and an impact from the drivers side it broke easy. The other three bolts werent that hard at all. After I broke the first one the the car was back on the road in about 3-4 hours. It seems to be running great, and the charge light doesnt come on anymore. So hopefully the alternator will last.
 
99SE said:
After pulling my alt. last nite and seeing what was envolved. I don't think it would be that hard the 2nd time around. YES, it was hard to do last nite it took me forever but I found a different way to get it off. I think my way was much easier to do than to take off the coil pack or take it off from the drivers side using 3' of extensions. :eek: I NEVER TOOK OFF ANY CONTROL ARMS?!?!?!?:eek: That seems a little ridiculus to me.
Click to expand...

And taking the control arm out to just move it over so you can pull the alternator out a bit easier. It only took an extra 30 secs to remove the bolt on the control arm and slide it out of the way, so really it wasnt a big deal. Now removing the coil pack....that was the biggest freaking waste of time. If I was a person about to do this swap I would totally ignore the post that tells you to do that
 
Just put a voltmeter across the battery terminals with the car running you should get over 14 volts if not, your alternator is toast.
 
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