Battery Light

[Tifton81]

Need help with this one. I replaced a couple of lights on my instrument cluster today and have noticed something. A few months back, I had to replace the alternator not once but twice, because I thought it was not putting out enough juice. Well, the shop said there was nothing wrong with both of them, so I said o.k. Here's my problem. When the car is running normal, the guage shows charge just past the 13 mark on the guage. When I turn the lights on, it pulls down to just below the 13. If I turn the air on, it pulls down more. Here's the kicker. When driving 55 or so it is showing a charge just below the 13 mark. If I give it some gas, the charge goes even lower....:confused . Since I replaced the bulbs in the cluster, tonight the battery light would beging to show a slow dim light and the more below 13 on the guage read the brighter the light would get?

Any ideas on where the problem is. It just seems like there isn't enough being produced by the alternator when driving with things turned on. When they are off and driving, I show a charge above the 13 mark? Please help....

 

[Mike Carter]

Have you checked the battery? I had battery with bad cell, car would start sometimes, Ichecked once with load and it indicated OK, put back in car and would not start, load tested again and it failed, replaced batt, alls well.

Mike

 

[22229stingray81]

Tifton,

Had the same sort of problem a hear and a half or so ago.. dim battery light..everytime i used anything that needed extra power (electric windows.. defogger.. even brake lights!!) the battery light would shine bright.. it was a frayed battery cable.. had it replaced and fixed the problem... just a suggestion..


-Tatortot

 

[JohnZ]

Check all the battery cable hot and ground connections and make sure they're clean and tight - when they get old, loose, and corroded, it increases resistance and causes voltage drop. Put a voltmeter across the battery terminals with the engine shut off and it should show about 12.6 volts; with the engine running, it should show about 13.5-14 volts.

 

[pax]

Tifton81,
Did you find the problem? Do NOT drag this out!!!!
Voltage fluxuations is one of the things that help to make the wiring brittle, melt together....causing shorts or worse...FIRES!!!
I hope I have your attention, this will likely not fix itself.
I second all the above.
If the battery is older than about 5 years I would tend to just put in a new properly sized one and eliminate that possibility after doing as JohnZ says ( check and clean battery connections ).
Alternative....if you have access to a properly sized battery to try, do the above. Do not just run jumper cables to try a different battery.... change them completly out.
Let us know what you find,
john

 

[Tifton81]

Thanks John for the info. Due to work, I haven't had the time to get back in the car and check it out. I will do just that and fine out what the problem(s) are. When I get more info I'll let everyone know the results.

thanks

Wiley