I have a weird issue with my car... I got an alternator thrown in a couple weeks ago since my check charging system light came on (and the battery was replaced fall last year). Lights would dim at idle and blower for climate control would slow down. The light flashed a couple times then just stayed on, but all was normal after they installed the new alternator...
Now the past week the light has seemingly randomly come on and off again... the first time was after sitting overnight... nothing got it to go out (revving, driving etc) until I got near the dealer. The light was on when I shut the car off, but refused to come one when they looked at it. Charged me $30 to let it sit and idle. Got trans fluid flushed while I was there and went on my way.
Everything was fine for a few days, went to work and it was fine (1 hour commute), but the light came on again at noon when I went out for lunch. Aggravated to no end, I roasted the tires out of the lot, revving the engine, and the light went out. It was fine all the next day until last night. I ate dinner at home then went out for an errand and the light came on yet again. This time it was predictable; driving in low gears to get rpms up, the light would go out at 2500 rpm. It did it the rest of the night and also on my way in to work this morning, except the speed at which it would go out slowly rose as my commute went on. It started at 2500 and ended at 3500 at the end of my commute. As I got off the highway near work, I booted it onto the main street and the car, as well as something in the brake pedal felt like it "popped" or moved a little (you could feel it on the floor). I tested brakes to be sure all was well and it was fine but the advancetrac light came on an instant later. Also, I had the climate control on and right after the pop, the fan speed on the blower rose up like there was a sudden removal of a large current draw on the electrical system
As I was rolling along, I shut the car off then restarted. The fan speed on the climate control continued to sound good, and both the advancetrac and check charging system lights stayed out, even with the engine at idle. I'm at a loss as to whats going on. One other strange issue, even with stereo off, you hear noise interference that was not there before the alternator replacement. Its pitch matches engine speed.
Any thoughts? I'm going to have the dealer re-replace the alternator now that there's clearly an issue with the new one and see if electrical issues were causing the other problems.
edit: yesterday morning it did it again for a short distance but has gone out and stayed out for the rest of that day and today. We have had hot and cold, and dry and wet weather, none of which seems to contribute.
Now the past week the light has seemingly randomly come on and off again... the first time was after sitting overnight... nothing got it to go out (revving, driving etc) until I got near the dealer. The light was on when I shut the car off, but refused to come one when they looked at it. Charged me $30 to let it sit and idle. Got trans fluid flushed while I was there and went on my way.
Everything was fine for a few days, went to work and it was fine (1 hour commute), but the light came on again at noon when I went out for lunch. Aggravated to no end, I roasted the tires out of the lot, revving the engine, and the light went out. It was fine all the next day until last night. I ate dinner at home then went out for an errand and the light came on yet again. This time it was predictable; driving in low gears to get rpms up, the light would go out at 2500 rpm. It did it the rest of the night and also on my way in to work this morning, except the speed at which it would go out slowly rose as my commute went on. It started at 2500 and ended at 3500 at the end of my commute. As I got off the highway near work, I booted it onto the main street and the car, as well as something in the brake pedal felt like it "popped" or moved a little (you could feel it on the floor). I tested brakes to be sure all was well and it was fine but the advancetrac light came on an instant later. Also, I had the climate control on and right after the pop, the fan speed on the blower rose up like there was a sudden removal of a large current draw on the electrical system
As I was rolling along, I shut the car off then restarted. The fan speed on the climate control continued to sound good, and both the advancetrac and check charging system lights stayed out, even with the engine at idle. I'm at a loss as to whats going on. One other strange issue, even with stereo off, you hear noise interference that was not there before the alternator replacement. Its pitch matches engine speed.
Any thoughts? I'm going to have the dealer re-replace the alternator now that there's clearly an issue with the new one and see if electrical issues were causing the other problems.
edit: yesterday morning it did it again for a short distance but has gone out and stayed out for the rest of that day and today. We have had hot and cold, and dry and wet weather, none of which seems to contribute.