Charge and E-Brake light

[seanyd08]

Hey guys, having a little problem with my car, The charge light and the ebrake light are both on (regardless if the ebrake is down) and they turn off when the car goes over a certain RPM. (They were turning off when i went over 2k, but later that day they weren't going off til i was over 3k) So i really have no clue whats going on... My battery died today, it had a shorted cell, so i got another one... thinking that this would also fix the lights, it didnt! Im not too happy with my little beast right now, anyone think they know whats wrong with her?

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Could be low on brake fluid, check that. The charge light could be your alternator.

[seanyd08]

Are alternators usually hard to replace and are they expensive? Because so far with this car it has been a very expensive vehicle...

[-eunos-]

Yeah, I've spent $1000's on the bloody thing... musta had a real hard life before I owned it... you on tE (teameunos.com) mate...? I'm from VIC...

[-eunos-]

And i'm interested in the $$$ for an alternator tooo.. might haveto research it for both of us mate... I'm having the sorta same problem... only my volts drop massively and the charge light comes on when my subs are dropping serious bass...

[wytbishop]

This is 100% alternator. Is it the brake light or the ABS light that is going off in addition to the charge light. The ABS light will also illuminate in a low battery voltage situation.

The inexpensive way is to have your alternator rebuilt at an auto electric shop. I had mine done for under $200 vs. over $300 for a reman Champion alternator.

[Pritchett]

the alt is a B to replace depending on which model you have. Mine is a 93' GS and the AC compressor prevents me from dropping it out the bottom. So i had to take the top route which includes taking off the air tube, plate thats underneath it, pulling the air condensor?? on top of the engine and squeezing the alternator out through the hole it provides..scrapped the crap outta my rad in the process...in all it took me 5 hours in the late evening(dark)+ first time doing it. I bought a reman alternator for $390+(minus the $90+ core) at canadian tire cause my voltage regulator was fried...dam thing was putting out 17+V instead of the normal 14.4V

[seanyd08]

Came to the conclusion that it is infact the alt. Im not too sure how to get her out (either top or bottom). it is a 1995. This looks like a right pain in the arse, is it easier to get it out myself or just pay a mechanic to do it? or would this just result in a mechanic getting the S**ts and charging me hours and hours of labour..

[wytbishop]

Although it is a pain in the butt to do it is literally just nuts and bolts and a couple of electrical connections. Paying a mechanic to do it would be a ridiculous waste of money.

[seanyd08]

Ok, cheers for the helpful advise! Ill get started on that today!

[davmac]

Lately I've been sweating most times I'm driving my car because AC was removed. I guess the one advantage is that removing the alternator is not such a big job.