Kyle_T
15+ Year Contributor
- 795
- 14
- Oct 19, 2008
-
Muskego,
Wisconsin
I've been having consistent charging issues on my car this past year. I've gone through my third alternator in less than 600 miles. The first one has been in the car for over 5 years so I thought it was just tired. The second one was an autozone reman I got in a pinch and the third one was a Bosch which I thought would be decent. And tonight after a 30 minute drive I look at my voltmeter and its reading 11.5V. My downpipe is ceramic coated and I have a heatshield in between the downpipe and alternator so I don't think heat is to blame 100%.
I've gone over whole charging system checking all connections, wiring and fuses. Everything seems to be fine except my battery light on the dash is not illuminating when the key is switched on. Nor was is on when the car was under 12v. Tried replacing the bulb, testing the bulb and socket, and jumping the pins on the cluster and was able to get the light to illuminate every time. I noticed my oil pressure dummy light also does not come on when I cycle the key on. Not sure if this is related or not
I’m a little confused with the charging light circuit. I see it gets ignition power from the ignition switch in the cluster and then seems like it goes to the alternator relay? I tried swapping alternator relays with a known good one and still does not work. I can’t figure out which pin on the cluster plug the ground side of the charge light goes to and it’s not listed on the cluster pin out post either. I’m getting higher resistance on a couple of the cluster pins between the ground side of the bulb connection but nothing for certain.
I've gone over whole charging system checking all connections, wiring and fuses. Everything seems to be fine except my battery light on the dash is not illuminating when the key is switched on. Nor was is on when the car was under 12v. Tried replacing the bulb, testing the bulb and socket, and jumping the pins on the cluster and was able to get the light to illuminate every time. I noticed my oil pressure dummy light also does not come on when I cycle the key on. Not sure if this is related or not
I’m a little confused with the charging light circuit. I see it gets ignition power from the ignition switch in the cluster and then seems like it goes to the alternator relay? I tried swapping alternator relays with a known good one and still does not work. I can’t figure out which pin on the cluster plug the ground side of the charge light goes to and it’s not listed on the cluster pin out post either. I’m getting higher resistance on a couple of the cluster pins between the ground side of the bulb connection but nothing for certain.
