2008 Battery/Alternator light always on

[Shjinta]

Hey Guys,

So.. a battery symbol appears in my RPM guage. It's always on, I'm at 201k KMs. My father who gave me the car thought it would be clever to give me a serpentine belt for xmas and say, a mechanic told him at 140k KMs the belt was starting to crack. Now, I know the belt turns the alternator to charge my battery. I took a look at the belt and didn't really see any cracks. it's also on there pretty tight and when it runs I don't really notice any noise. Is the belt really the issue here? or am I looking at the Alternator / Battery?

I'm crappy with Cars and my Father in-law who's a damn good mechanic is thinking it's either Wiring/Battery/Alternator.

Do you guys have any opinions?

Thank you very much

[JohnO]

You are right at the mileage where the alternator brushes wear out. I bought a set of brushes at a local alternator shop for $15 and put them in myself. The hardest part of the job is taking the alternator out. I think a lot of people replace the alternator when the problem is just worn brushes.

I doubt the serpentine belt alone would cause the problem. You would notice a lack of power steering as well.

[Shjinta]

Thank you for the reply.

I'm taking the car to my Father In-law and he'll be looking at it tomorrow. Would it be better in my case to just replace my Alternator and get better barrings? Also, is the Alternator hard to change on this car?

Wish i was more mechanically inclined lol.

Thank you very much for the response.

[Salsa Guy]

The Alternator isn't a hard replacement on these cars. Just disconnect the Battery first. Take the belt off by releasing the tensioner (the biggest pain), 2 bolts, 2 connectors and it 's out. Getting the bottom bolt started on the new alternator can be tough but it's only a 30-40 minute job with a 10 minute beer break.

[JohnO]

Here is a good video on how to replace the brushes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImyX5KuGvQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It goes through a whole rebuild, so only the first part is needed for replacing the brushes.

[lannvouivre]

The Alternator isn't a hard replacement on these cars. Just disconnect the Battery first. Take the belt off by releasing the tensioner (the biggest pain), 2 bolts, 2 connectors and it 's out. Getting the bottom bolt started on the new alternator can be tough but it's only a 30-40 minute job with a 10 minute beer break.

Be careful getting it off the lower bracket. You can puncture the otherflow tank with the stud on the front of the alternator for the bigger cable. I had mine get so stuck on the lower bracket that I got exhausted from leaning over my car and rocking it back and forth to work it free. I'd used a pry bar, but it shifted where I couldn't get onto metal to pry it the other way. I was really missing my really big pry bar

[Shjinta]

UPDATE:

So, I drove the car to my fathers place Tuesday. Roughly 133KMs from my place. No battery/Alternator light came on at all, car started and ran like normal. My father noticed some corrosion build up on one of the battery connectors and told me that was the problem. We cleaned it up and I drove home, no light came on UNTIL I hit my street. My street is extremely rough right now due to the weather, and whenever I hit a few bumps in a row the light would blink on with the bumps. I'm pretty sure some wire is LOOSE but the question is.. which one.

[lannvouivre]

I'm pretty sure some wire is LOOSE but the question is.. which one.

Check that front alternator cable. Pull off its little plastic cover and check for corrosion, and see if the little nut is nice and tight.

[Shjinta]

Hello everyone, Figured I should update you all on what's going on with my vibe.

My father inlaw and I took it to his friends place to look at it. After a fun 2 hours we changed my Serpentine Belt.. yeah it was due lol. We went to change the battery, long story short Canadian tire is evil. Their listed battery for my vibe has the positive on the wrong side.. I ended up getting a 620 CCA battery at walmart. We pop it in, and the charging light, the one that looks like a battery in the RPM window is still flickering on and off, sometimes it stays on for ten seconds, I can see my lights dim etc. So, I'm wondering if it is the Alternator? The problem is, the car starts perfectly fine, even at -36. I drive to kingston from Shannonville everyday and never have issues, the power dimming pretty much only happens when I'm off the high way between the first and third gear. We checked the main plug on the Alternator and saw no corrosion. The other wires on it looked ok, but I did see some like greenish blue stuff on the wire, my father inlaw checked it and didn't really see anything. This is pretty baffling.

So what do you guys think? Before I get my father inlaw to rip out the Alternator and replace it... Think it could be something else?

Thanks so much for trying to help.

[Raven]

The greenish/blue stuff is oxidation on the copper wire. The fact that the light comes on at slow speed, lower RPM seems to point to a possible alternator issue. At slower speed it isn't generating quite enough juice.
It's simple to test the alternator with a multimeter. Hook the positive wire on the meter to the + charging post on the alternator and the negative to ground or the - post of the battery. You should see around 14.2 volts with the car running. Much less than that and your alternator is the culprit.
Also check all the ground wires you can see on the battery and engine. In our part of Canada with the generous use of salt, corrosion on the grounds can be a problem.

[JohnO]

Like I said earlier, could just be the alternator brushes. They are easy to change if you have the alternator out anyway. The video that I linked explains how to check the bearings. If they are OK, give the brushes a shot.

[Shjinta]

Thanks for the reply. We'll be checking the car out on the weekend. I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks for the responses.

[lannvouivre]

but I did see some like greenish blue stuff on the wire

I'd recommend cleaning that off with baking soda and a wire brush and rewrapping it. Mine got so corroded (although at the plug) that the plug's plastic cover melted and even had some parts reduced to charcoal due to the heat.

[Shjinta]

I'll make sure to do that. Today was a pretty stressful drive, the charging light came on and basically wouldn't go away until i turned off the fan and radio. Once I got off the highway and was stuck in traffic is was coming on and off... This is fun :/

[Water boy]

Generally, the battery is used to start the car. After that, it is not needed so, generally, any electrical issues are alternator related.

[Shjinta]

Well we checked the alternator and my father in-law seems to think it's the regulator inside the alternator, my power is fluctuating, also my father inlaw noticed my idle RPMs would fluctuate all the time. So, going to change the alternator.

Thanks guys

[circuitsmith]

Brushes are almost always the first thing to go on an alternator.
Much much more likely it's the brushes, not the regulator.
They are cheap: less than $20.

[Shjinta]

Well, changed the Alternator Thursday. The voltage is back within perfect range. No issues with the installation. The problem is the charging light is still faintly on, it turns on bright and properly when I first start the car, then it goes very dim and stays on. Super easy to see it at night. Any ideas? My father is telling me to take it to Toyota and see if they can diagnose the problem. I really want to see if I can figure it out without dropping 100$ on a trip to Toyota.

Here is a picture of the light.. Its blurry and I suck, and it's at night.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn23 ... 7e1748.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Water boy]

Could be a partly bad alternator.
Not knowing the replacement story I'd start there. New/rebuilt could have passed but still be bad.

[Shjinta]

Could be a partly bad alternator.
Not knowing the replacement story I'd start there. New/rebuilt could have passed but still be bad.

Hmm interesting. It was a rebuilt Champion from Canadian Tire. So I got a 3 year warranty on it. Is there any way to check this?

[Water boy]

1) take back to CT and claim defective.
2) take to 3rd party like Auto Zone and have tested.
3) take car to local repair shop that specializes in electrical and play dumb. (When all other options are exhausted)

[triz]

You should have had the system tested before replacing anything. Could just be a bad dash light. Get the alternator tested. Check all the connections make sure they are clean and free of any corrosion. Check your fuses as well.

[Raven]

Bring it back to Canadian Tire and have them check it. Like I said before it should be putting out around 14.2 volts but could have other issues. Rebuilt parts store alternators are always a crap shoot when it comes to quality and durability.

Wow you can't even use the word carp on this family oriented site.