Battery light on dash?

95MkViii

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So on my way home and I looked down and saw that my battery light was on. I have not noticed a difference in starting. So is it my alternator? Or what's going on.
 
Its most likely the alt. Just put volt meter on battery while running you should see 14.4ish volts. One great thing about mk8's is changing alt can be done in minutes.
 
Could be overcharging too. I think (I'm not totally sure though,) that it will come on if it's over 16V as well...
 
+1, mine was on for months until finally, it went dead on me with a light show first. Everything blinked off and on and then the car shut off. It was on when I bought the car from Jamie and I drove it and drove it and it got me within 5 months I think. The diodes were going bad and the light was letting me know that something was wrong but it was still getting a charge sometimes.

Also, the three wire plug was broke and I replaced that too by splicing in another one from the wrecked 93 that was here. Check that plug to see if you're getting a good connection.
 
ok... this is :q:q:q:qing weird... all the :q:q:q:q works, but the car wont start.... and when i lock the doors my horn dosnt honk....

these car are such pieces of :q:q:q:q sometimes.



^^ yes i have a short fuse.
 
Could be overcharging too. I think (I'm not totally sure though,) that it will come on if it's over 16V as well...

Never saw it in the programing, just a warning for low voltage. I had adjusted mine to 13. I think default is 11.5 volts. (not sure, been a while)
 
ok... this is :q:q:q:qing weird... all the :q:q:q:q works, but the car wont start.... and when i lock the doors my horn dosnt honk....

these car are such pieces of :q:q:q:q sometimes.



^^ yes i have a short fuse.[/QUOTE

All the problems your having is because the alt died now battery is low on charge so it will power low amp things fine but can't take the huge amp draw of the starter. You most likey just have a dead alt.
 
nope... come on guys, my starter is dead... LOL...

i cooled off went back out and started testing. have 11.9V at the battery. when i went to start the car, it wouldnt start. everything eles works and the battery isnt dead.

am i correct in saying its the starter.
 
it could be a surface charge. i've seen batteries show 11.9 until you go to crank it and the volts will plummet to 6 or so.
11.9 is low for a resting battery. should be 12.4 or so. deff in the 12s at least.
put a charger on the battery, see if anything changes.
 
Yes, the voltage is just too low right now. When mine stranded me, it had started 5 minutes prior and I noticed that the air ride sounded very weak and then 5 min down the road, I had the light show with the radio and everything blinking and then within seconds, it died.

Called AZ and they allowed me to use a check card over the phone to buy a new battery 850/1000 with 3 year lifetime warranty and 5 year pro-rated warranty for $114. They even brought it to me and installed it so that left me running on the battery's reserve until I went straight there and bought the alternator. Shortly after, that alternator went bad too but it is hit and miss with AZ alts. I went and got a new one and installed that one and had no problems since. I can say that AZ alternators don't care much for WOT's. They seem to go bad quick after a few of those but I have done more than a few and it's still doing good.
 
I can say that AZ alternators don't care much for WOT's. They seem to go bad quick after a few of those but I have done more than a few and it's still doing good.

i rebuilt my motorcraft. and its seen tons of wot runs and more than a few burnouts where it sat near redline for a bit. been holding up well, knock on wood. quality parts sure help.
 
i rebuilt my motorcraft. and its seen tons of wot runs and more than a few burnouts where it sat near redline for a bit. been holding up well, knock on wood. quality parts sure help.

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to push an AZ alternator on anyone but I went with it at the time because of price and it's just down the street from me. If it was hell to change, I would have went to O'Reilly's and bought their rebuilt Motorcraft that they usually don't have in stock. I had one in the 94 but it burned in the fire. Bad thing about it was that it only had a 1 year warranty and their Chinese rebuilds have lifetime warranty's. i went through 2 or 3 of those so I know from experience that they suck. Another reason I decided to go with the Duralast.
 
I agree. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to push an AZ alternator on anyone but I went with it at the time because of price and it's just down the street from me. If it was hell to change, I would have went to O'Reilly's and bought their rebuilt Motorcraft that they usually don't have in stock. I had one in the 94 but it burned in the fire. Bad thing about it was that it only had a 1 year warranty and their Chinese rebuilds have lifetime warranty's. i went through 2 or 3 of those so I know from experience that they suck. Another reason I decided to go with the Duralast.

i have a lifetime warranty auto zone alt in the cougar. it was needed quickly at the time. it isn't driven enough to matter, but its easy to change and i can get another one almost anywhere. its a solid 13.6v. car has like zero electronics so it doesn't matter much.

the mark however, is my main ride. its gotta run so more money is put down to keep it going.
 
I got my alt from boneyard for 40 bucks. I picked it up and it was an almost brand new rebuilt with sticker. I was bummed and happy at same time. Bummed that it was not FORD factory then happy it was new. Then worry how long the crappy rebuild would last.
 
All rebuilds are in the same book as far as I know. Stock Ford is best. But wicked pricey. I think even my price on a rebuild was like 120. One thing about rebuild is get lifetime warranty. If it lasts a year or 2 cool then get a new one. LOL
 
ok ok.... come on guys, im a hot headed 18 year old... i get madder then a 2 finger cripple trying to return a text message.
 
As stated, O'Reilly's does have true Motorcraft rebuilt alts but not always in stock and priced almost $80 more with 1 year warranty. Their rebuilds,(lifetime) I think they're called Ultima but I personally went through 3 of those. I can't speak for the Motorcraft that I did end up getting because it burned a few months after install. I'm on my 2nd Duralast from AZ. The first one didn't last but maybe 2 months but the one I have now has been going over a year now with no problems. YET
 
anyone have a working alt that they would like to sell? one off a parts car or something?
 
anyone have a working alt that they would like to sell? one off a parts car or something?[/QUOTE

If you can't find one here you should check Car-parts.com. Its a nation wide junkyard parts finder. Put in alt and you zip and it will show you who has it and for what price. Find cheapest one thats closest and bingo winner.Or should I say "winning".
 

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