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Battery light coming on at high rpm

C

CLASSVT

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
738
Location
Fort Wayne, In
So there have been a couple times this last week where I was running through the first few gears at wot. I noticed that more than once the battery light would come on for a second and then go away once rpm declined. The light has not come on during normal driving at all. I searched but found nothing useful. Thanks for your help.
 
You are probably experiencing brush bounce at high rpm. New brushes will likely solve the problem. This has come up many times over the years.

From my shop experience, this can also be from an alternator rotor problem that is only present at high rpm, allowing the rotor windings to either short or open. However, the brush bounce problem has been well documented on our cars.
 
i have the pulsating lights but no battery light, Just got a re manufactured alternator and that is when it started..so i am assuming it would be alternator related for you
 
flickering battery light at high rpm is worn brushes as pointed out.


NIghthawk1824 said:
i have the pulsating lights but no battery light, Just got a re manufactured alternator and that is when it started..so i am assuming it would be alternator related for you
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this is a bad reman alternator ....
 
I was reading on here that ford used the same alternators for the se contours and the svt contours and since they have different redlines if you go past a certain rpm it can damage the alternator. I had the same problem happen to me, I was racing a merc cougar and went a few hundred rpms too high, batter light came on and a couple months later my alternator died.
 
ronssvt said:
I was reading on here that ford used the same alternators for the se contours and the svt contours and since they have different redlines if you go past a certain rpm it can damage the alternator. I had the same problem happen to me, I was racing a merc cougar and went a few hundred rpms too high, batter light came on and a couple months later my alternator died.
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don't buy it at all. redline on the dash is the same. hard limiter maybe different but i doubt its going to be so different the alternator can't handle it.


what i see as the problem with remans is the copper on the shaft that contacts the brushes. most used up alternators have grooves in this. so what do they do, they remove the grooves and this reduces the overall diameter. so what happens is the new brushes work great at first but byt the time they wear they can not remain in contact because they would have to come out furthur then normal .....
 
ronssvt said:
really? I could have sworn the se's had a 500 rpm lower redline?
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the zetec has a lower redline per the tach.

zetec = 6500
duratec = 6750

now the hard cut off between the Se and SVT maybe different. I know the zetec is 7100 rpm, iirc. I think the SVT might be the same? so the SE would also, or that is a good guess anyway.

and I don't see how 500 rpm would cause a problem with the alternator when it is already spinning faster then the engine
 
it is simply because they do that... after reading alot of the posts in here and first hand experience... i bought my car and it had a reman on it... did it, replaced it when it went out, the new one did it right off... now with my third one.... does it always has always will... unless someone else has another possibilty of what it is... my car has dont it for three years on three seperate and different reman alts.. always the same, i say dont worry about it and i personally treat it as a shift light...lol
 
and to add... from what i have heard the ONLY solution to this problem is to buy a new one from the dealer because all remans do this... my opinion is screw that! price one of them things out... and its not a bad reman because i have had all three tested multiple times before i did some reading and all the tests came back that the alt was fine... i kept replacing trying to eliminate the prob and it still there nor do i care about it being there at this point cause in my opinion its a $2k car, not spending $2k to fix a problem of a light that only comes on at redline who cares
 
99RedCSVT said:
Awwww man...didn't know that...just replaced it with the motor swap. Thought it would be good since it was a rebuilt motorcraft.
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where did you get it from? a parts store or a dealer. it is very typical that a flickering battery light at high rpm is the brushes in the alternator going bad. you can replace just the brushes, or the brushes and the voltage regulator. you can get it from rock auto .... but you have to pull the alternator to repalce it ...
 
BrApple said:
where did you get it from? a parts store or a dealer. it is very typical that a flickering battery light at high rpm is the brushes in the alternator going bad. you can replace just the brushes, or the brushes and the voltage regulator. you can get it from rock auto .... but you have to pull the alternator to repalce it ...
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Yeah, don't mind doing to brushes or what not, it's just the dreaded part of pulling it with the motor in..:blackeye:
 
well the first one i did have the alt checked and the mechanic told me that on contours the brushes isnt the problem. the problem lies in the fact that there is some kind of issue with the cars 99% of the time dont respond well to reman/rebuilt alts no matter where or what kind. the only thing that fixes it is a brand new motorcraft alt... am i am witness to that having replaced mine three times all remans and no fix to that prob..
in my eyes it is a huge waste of time, the brushes were fine in the first alt.
 
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