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New alternator battery light after 60 miles

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Old 09-28-2010 | 09:24 AM
  #1  
Patrick_r's Avatar
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Happiness goes wirrrrr
 
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From: St Helens Oregon
New alternator battery light after 60 miles

Last week my battery light came on and electrical systems went on the Frits. I got home and found my battery was boiling. Figured the voltage regulator went out in my alternator and I replaced it. Worked fine for 60 miles but the battery light is on again.

Yes I used an oem Alt
I cleared the ecu all three ways

Do you think the battery just sustained too much damage while it was being over voltaged? Would that cause this?
Old 09-28-2010 | 12:01 PM
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EDZRIDE's Avatar
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From: Spokane Valley, Washington
Did you change the alternator or voltage regulator? If you replaced the alternator, check the belt tension and charging output?
Old 09-28-2010 | 12:07 PM
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From: Bellevue WA
Could have toasted the battery. Do a charge and load test on the battery to determine the status.
Did you know the voltage regulation system is in the ECU?
Old 09-28-2010 | 12:35 PM
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I went through this nightmare. My alternator overcharged and ruined (boiled over) two batteries, the ABS unit, burnt all fuses (most anyway), drivers side window switch, and all my lights. The first Shitty dealer could not locate the problem and said it was the Autozone battery. I had Autozone cover the battery and it happened again. Finally, I had the alternator rebuilt and then took it straight to the second dealer who diagnosed it as overloading the system, and my extended warranty covered everything except the alternator since I had already had it rebuilt.

I had the alternator rebuilt once again after that when it failed (not charging) again by the same reputable shop under warranty and then the third time it failed again (not charging again) 6 months later so I just bought one online off of a wrecked RX-8. The alternator shop could not figure out why the rebuilds were not lasting and I felt guilty getting them rebuilt over and over for free. Once I installed the used alternator all of my problems went away.

So, something was damaged in the alternator that was not getting fixed completely in the rebuild.

Last edited by 9krpmrx8; 09-28-2010 at 12:42 PM.
Old 09-29-2010 | 10:44 AM
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Happiness goes wirrrrr
 
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From: St Helens Oregon
Well The belt was loose. I fixed that and no more sqeaking belt but it's still got that light. I hooked it up to a battery charger and the battery wouldn't go over 90 percent charge. I'm gonna toss my wifes batt in the car and start it to see if that fixes it.
Old 09-29-2010 | 10:51 AM
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From: San Antonio, Texas
One thing that I have noticed is that our alternator will not fully charge the battery at all. I have a fairly new battery and I make it a habit to hook it up the charger every once in a while and it usually takes and hour or two to fully charge.

Go to Harbor Freight and pick up a charger for cheap.
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