Alternator going bad?

[cornholio]

The battery light on my '03 flashes on every once in a while. It will come on and stay on for a few minutes before turning off. It does not happen everytime, and it started a month or two ago.
I do have a 4lb lower pulley, but I also have the appropriate alt pulley. The car runs fine and the electronics are also working without a glitch.

Just curious if this is a sign that the alternater is about to go. Thanks.

 

[Sniffer]

i had the same problem, alternator went poopy after a month.

 

[Lethal SVT97]

it happened to me a few times in the summer. the baterry light came on for few minutes then went away. went to schucks and got the voltage for the alternator. it was fine. charged the baterry, problem solved.

 

[hawaiiancobra]

alternator gone bad

alternator is shot, mine went out over a 5 month period,very slowly and unnoticable until the car was just undrivable, i have a 2.90 upper, lfp 4#lower,(8.75") w/3.2 metco alt. pulley, my new set-up is pa 170amp. alt., w/ 3.7 metco alt. pulley,spinning the alt. past 16000rpm is detrimental. see (alt. pulley needed for a 6# metco lower) thread on page 1 of terminator talk, i just brought it forward to top of page, it has all the info on pulley sizing and correct ratio's, this is a good chart,

 

[Screamin Cobra]

Check the connection and voltage on your alternator, sounds like the same problem I had before mine took a poop on me.

 

[03SoCalCobra]

If you think the alternator is going bad there's about a 90% chance it is. I'm on my 3rd replacement; look for the dash lights to very slightly flicker, that means you got less than a month.

If your radio/radar detector shuts off suddenly while you're driving, you've got less than 1 minute to find a safe parking spot.

 

[cornholio]

I figured its going. I have zero other "symptoms" at this time. I will just start looking for a new alt. Is the 170 amp unit the one I should go for? Thanks for the replies.

 

[Screamin Cobra]

If you think the alternator is going bad there's about a 90% chance it is. I'm on my 3rd replacement; look for the dash lights to very slightly flicker, that means you got less than a month.

If your radio/radar detector shuts off suddenly while you're driving, you've got less than 1 minute to find a safe parking spot.

03SoCalCobra is 100% correct, happened just like that to me but unfortunately it pooped out on me in the middle of a busy highway!!:fm: :cuss:


Now I am currently running a PA alternator 170amp @ wot. Good alternator so far, no issues here and I have had it for about 6 months now.

 

[93 347 Cobra]

Yeah, it's probably your alternator. It really sucks that these cars have such bad ones from the factory. I just Screamin's old alternator rebuilt at a local shop (which he was nice enough to send me for only shipping costs).

 

[Thrust]

Yeah, It sounds like your alt. is on the way out. I added a voltage gauge to give me a heads up with whats going on with my charging system. I figured that it was cheaper to do the gauge now instead of buying a battery, alternator, and possibly paying for a tow later on down the road.

 

[blkvertterm]

Check the connection and voltage on your alternator, sounds like the same problem I had before mine took a poop on me.

++++1

Mine had the same symptoms. I downloaded the Ford service manual from this site. In the symptoms chart if tells you to check the connections.

I pulled and cleaned all the connections. All grounds and posi that go to the battery and alt, even the ground strap on the engine.

I found there was corrosion in the alt connection. It was just a little and hidden under the rubber protective boot.

I cleaned them with brass brush and it completely cured the issue. I believe in most cases this is the real issue. Most will never know because in changing the alt the connections will be cleaned.

The boot is angled at 90 degress and holds water. I think it is a poor design from the factory.

 

[Angel]

The battery light on my '03 flashes on every once in a while. It will come on and stay on for a few minutes before turning off. It does not happen everytime, and it started a month or two ago.
I do have a 4lb lower pulley, but I also have the appropriate alt pulley. The car runs fine and the electronics are also working without a glitch.

Just curious if this is a sign that the alternater is about to go. Thanks.

First, check the connections and for corrosion as blkvertterm did and drive the car for a few minutes to see if the alternator charges the battery to "full charge". If your interior lights are low, then it will require about ten minutes of driving to completely re-charge the battery.

Then, test both the alternator and the battery. If the alternator tests right and the bettery is not at full charge, then it may have suffered too much of a loss in charge to fully recover. OEM is maint. batteries instead of maint. free.

 

[Knoxville COBRA]

Mine showed no signs of going out...the battery light came on and about 15 miles later(at night)i was dead on the side of the freeway.