intermittent charge light

[seboroth]

Hey all, I know that there has been alot of alternator questions asked, but I searched and couldn't find anything to help me out here. Now, it has a mind of its own, it most notably occurred when driving on the highway for 3 hours(don't do much highway driving) and the charge light would stay on and go off and then flicker and come on out of nowhere. Mind of its own. I've replaced the alternator 3 years ago, and has a brand new battery, connections are tight and I have dielectric grease on the terminals. Also just put on a new alternator belt thinking that it was too old and was slipping. The belt was bad, but now it still does it now and then, doesn't matter if i'm accelerating or decelerating. It also doesn't have a certain rpm range that it happens most in. Got a feeling that the alternator is going again, but I would like to see what you all think. Let me know.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Take your car to an auto parts store and have the electrical system checked. They will tell you if your alternator, rectifier, regulator and battery are good or not.
The charge light lights up when the voltage on the battery falls under a given value, so my guess would be that your system is now working right at that threshold, and the natural instabilities in the system are giving you that seemingly crazy on/off action.

My money is on the battery...

[seboroth]

really, but I just put a new battery in three months ago. And it was doing this with the old battery in it too.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

really, but I just put a new battery in three months ago. And it was doing this with the old battery in it too.

Hmmm, you didn't say that before. Way to get me goin'...
It can be a number of things. Having the system checked will tell you if the major components are in good shape. If they are, and the battery has good voltage, it can also be s false contact, or a big a$$ short circuit (unlikely, but everything is possible).

The most important thing nobody seems to understand is electrical issues are seldom easy to diagnose without testing. I see this at work every day: people coming to have a battery, alternator or starter replaced, just to find out, upon testing, that the part is in perfect shape.

You need to troubleshoot your electrical system. If you're lucky, it'll be the alternator, and you'll have it fixed in a snap. If you're not, and all the major components are good, you may be in for a loooong few days...

[seboroth]

well, I'll check stuff though, I was thinking about one of those hyper ground kits or a home made equivalent, just to make sure things are grounded properly. Till then I'll keep driving her, hasn't died on me yet.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Upgrading the grounds is always a good thing, but making changes on a car is a double edged sword.
I would FIRST concentrate on fixing the problem, and then upgrade the grounds. Otherwise, once you start getting difficulties on your repair, you'll always be looking sideways at your new grounds.

[seboroth]

true that. It hasn't been bugging me latly, but i'm not holding my breath. Well see what happens as time moves on. Thanks for the help.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Anytime...

[Nd4SpdSe]

When I've seen that light be intermitent it's usually because the regulator is on it's way out. Ironicly, I've had it where it stayed on a low-rpms and eventually fixed itself after about a week, twice! The 3rd time it finally went and I could definitely tell since the light stayed on followed by the smell of burnt electronics/capacitor.

[seboroth]

Haven't had that smell yet, but i'll keep my noise tuned for it.