Well got the brand new alternator installed a few days ago. First day the car was totally strong and everything was smooth. Second day the battery light started flashing intermittently for a split second then would turn off...and do this intermittently like once every 10 minutes. Well it's been doing this for the past 2 days, and now I see the pattern. It seems to occur randomly right around 1.5k-a little under 2k. Once the engine falls/goes past this range, then the light shuts off. The car still feels strong and I haven't had any issues with dimming lights or noises/etc.

I took it to two places to get it diagnosed, and both said my charging system was fine after a few minutes of testing. We tried to replicate the light issue but couldn't during both bouts of testing. One of the guys said it's probably just a defective voltage regulator and that the car will probably be fine for a long time. However, it still worries me. Any suggestions?

 

i'm gonna take a guess, b/c i've seen this happen b4. The Nut on the Alternator power cable is loose. I'd start there, its common spot that gets over looked, and not properly tightend in the first place. this is why you couldn't replicated the problem at the shop b/c this only happens while u drive the power cable will move and loose contact. check it out....

 

thanks bro! actually, I had a shop install it for me...you're referring to the nut that holds the ground cable on the side of the alternator right?

 

Sounds like a a wire or ground is loose

 

yea check the nut and any other connections that were tightened while swapping alternators

 

I'm about to check here in a few.

only thing that makes me think it might not be a grounding/wire issue is that the light 'only' appears within a specific rpm range, never above. unless during that range there's a certain amount of vibration that causes it...i dunno

 

.......i had this problem for a week when i was racing for an hr straight. it would show up when it shifted a gear and it would only show up in the lower rpms. then i could smell the alt smoke, so i popped the hood and it was smoking. but the problem went away by it self.

 

you're exactly right

it seems to only occur when the auto tranny is shifting at low rpms...typically between 1.5k-2k

i mean the car seems fine....that's pretty scary that your alternator was smoking. so your alternator was still good after that? that's pretty odd