Friday night i was driving to work, when my battery light came on, after that the lights dimmed, the srs airbag light came on, the tcu went out, then finally the ecu lost power and it just shut off. I spent all weekend working on it, and found out that the pivot bolt on the alternator came loose, and the bolt started chewing through the side of the bolt hole. So i just spent the last 5 and a half hours in a parking lot putting a brand new battery and alternator in the car, and it started fine, and i let it run for a bit, and when i came out after cleaning up a bit, the battery light was on again and the lights were dim again. Any ideas?

Check your belt tension and your alternator fuse.

Make sure your connections are clean and free of any corrosion.

Originally posted by DR1665
Make sure your connections are clean and free of any corrosion.

DITTO! I've had to rewire EVERY car I've had except my subaru (only 2 yrs old) from the battery to the alternator, starter, and fuse block because of corrosion issues

i think it MIGHT be the fuse thats causing the problem now... when i was removing the old alternator, i put a socket wrench on the electrical connection on the back of the alternator, and it hit the frame and sparked, and i think i heard a pop because i hadnt disconnected the battery... It was 3:00 am at the time tho... Ive called every dealer around and been to all the autopart stores and nobody has them... is it a fusible link or one of those maxi fuses? i dont have the car here...

Originally posted by hazardeclipse
because i hadnt disconnected the battery...

Bad idea. Always disconnect your battery when working with anything electrical. Granted you were stranded, and had no other choice at 3 am. It's understandable. Hell, I've done it before and had a glowing wire mishap...I don't hesitate to disconnect the ground anymore.


http://www.dsmregistry.com/detail.php?carid=1185

yea. I think after this i will. You always have to have that one mishap to teach you why its important though. Lol maybe i just learn slow?

my buddy has a permanent scar of where he grounded out his wedding ring cause he forgot to disconnect the battery, it superheated the ring almost instantaneously and cooked his finger

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
my buddy has a permanent scar of where he grounded out his wedding ring cause he forgot to disconnect the battery, it superheated the ring almost instantaneously and cooked his finger

His fault for getting married :P

Originally posted by bullettdsm
His fault for getting married :P

QFT.

Is there a way to keep your radio presets but have your battery disconnected (at least part ways) so your battery doesn't drain and you can do electrical work safely? Like just disconnecting just the positive or just the negative?

to keep from losing radio memory you can take a 9v battery and a cigarette lighter adapter and backfeed the electrical system through the cig socket. Then disconnect the car battery.

Terry

The ALT fuse is one of the Maxi Fuses. If you pop the fuse cover under the hood it's one of the 2 in the bottom left corner of the box.

-Kevin

I am digging up this old thread because it helped with with an issue and I thought I would add to it to be helpful. I had a similar issue and checked the fuse and found it was fine. Under the fuse on the left is the wire that comes from the alternator and is bolted to the bottom of the fuse. My connection at that point was loose and created the same issue. Bolt tightened and battery is charging again.

I hope this helps someone in the future.

Originally posted by mreigle
I hope this helps someone in the future.

Nothing wrong with that, sir. We're always telling people to use the search, so bumping a thread from time to time like this kinda shows that it works. :thumbsup