car battery problem?

[QueBert]

was driving on the freeway tonight and noticed my battery light blinking, it was very quick and 5-10 seconds in between at first. so pulled over on the freeway to check the terminals, things were connected fine. I sat in the car for a few minutes and noticed the light wasn't blinking any more. I got back on the road and it started again after a few seconds. I exited the freeway and got back on to come home. It stopped for about 12 miles with nothing, then started again, and this time was longer and more frequent. I made it home without noticing any problems like lights dimming or the car running strange. I had the alternator replaced maybe 1.5 years ago, also the battery, hummm withing the past 5 months.

Going to have the Alternator and battery checked in the morning. Don't know a whole lot about cars, but I know it can also be the belt on the Alternator slipping. If in fact the belt needs replacement, is this a job that could be done by somebody like me?

I'm also going to have the battery checked for a drain, I had one before from my stereo being improperly hooked up and was causing a pretty serious drain.

Anyone here have ideas on anything else it might be?

thanks

 

[Cattlegod]

where did you have the alternator replaced at? You may have been ripped off when they replaced them the first time (replaced them with poor rebuilds).

 

[jacob0401]

a wire may be corroded? my friend had problems with his taurus a while a go and he checked alternator, battery but it ended being a corroded wire. he found out after getting a diagnostic run..

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Cattlegod
where did you have the alternator replaced at? You may have been ripped off when they replaced them the first time (replaced them with poor rebuilds).

My moms work, they're a big towing company and have a full garage. It was an OEM, was going to go for a HO one, but since they would have required having the harness rewired I didn't do it. Now it's possible the place they bought it from sold them a junk one. Don't think if it was they did it on purpose. Obviously if they test it tomorrow (the atl) and it doesn't hold a charge I gotta get a new one. but I was thinking there could be other things I could check for, but my limited car knowledge keeps me from really getting to the bottom of it if it's not something simple like the Alt not holding a charge or the battery being bad.

Seems like the battery light doesn't blink nearly as much when I was at a dead stop, again I don't have a clue why this would be, but that's why I thought it might be the belt slipping, not sure if the belt spins faster depending on the speed your going. but I can't figure out a reason why the battery light blinks so much more when I'm moving.

 

[0]

Idiot lights are hard to diagnose. Is there a way to hook up a volt meter to check what the battery voltage is when the car is off, vs. when its running?

 

[funboy6942]

Voltage regulator going bad inside the alt, your going to need a new one. I suggest you do it yourself. Not a hard job at all to do, and change your serpentine belt while your at it since you have to remove it (sort a) to take off the alt. Not a very hard job to do really and you will save a bundle doing it yourself, buy a chiltons book at the parts store ($10) and the job shouldnt take no more then a half hour.
If you do it should be around $100 for the alt and $35 for the belt plus $10 for the manual (manual will come in handy and pay for itself in no time) so Maybe a total of $150 and 1hr time since it is your first time.

Take it to a shop your looking at 3-4 hours wasted since you have to take it to them wait for it, may not get to it right away (how much is your time worth?), shop time of a MIN of $75 a hour and they will charge a min of 1 hour labor, alt will be 40% higher so $140 or more (they dont shop around and buy high), then there is shop fees on that so another $30 for a MIN total of around $240~ or more.

You can always wish it is a slipping belt in one hand and then sh1t in the other and see which it one fills up first, chance it being a slipped belt-0, why, its a serpentine belt set up so unless the tensioner pulley has given out its not going to slip, and if that was the case you be bitching about your steering going hard and soft and the car overheating for all the other stuff runs off the same belt

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Voltage regulator going bad inside the alt, your going to need a new one. I suggest you do it yourself. Not a hard job at all to do, and change your serpentine belt while your at it since you have to remove it (sort a) to take off the alt. Not a very hard job to do really and you will save a bundle doing it yourself, buy a chiltons book at the parts store ($10) and the job shouldnt take no more then a half hour.
If you do it should be around $100 for the alt and $35 for the belt plus $10 for the manual (manual will come in handy and pay for itself in no time) so Maybe a total of $150 and 1hr time since it is your first time.

Take it to a shop your looking at 3-4 hours wasted since you have to take it to them wait for it, may not get to it right away (how much is your time worth?), shop time of a MIN of $75 a hour and they will charge a min of 1 hour labor, alt will be 40% higher so $140 or more (they dont shop around and buy high), then there is shop fees on that so another $30 for a MIN total of around $240~ or more.

You can always wish it is a slipping belt in one hand and then sh1t in the other and see which it one fills up first, chance it being a slipped belt-0, why, its a serpentine belt set up so unless the tensioner pulley has given out its not going to slip, and if that was the case you be bitching about your steering going hard and soft and the car overheating for all the other stuff runs off the same belt

You sound like you know a lot about cars, before i read your message here i called a friend who's a Ford Master Mechanic, he said to start the car and remove the positive terminal from the battery, if the car doesn't die it's probably not the ALT. I did that, and it still ran, I turned on the high beams and reved it up a bit and the battery light didn't even come on. I'm taking the battery to Pep Boys to have it tested even though I doubt it's the battery.

anything else it might be? going to have the ALT checked for real once I get the battery back and know it's good. I don't know if the removing the ternimal is 100% when troubleshooting an ALT.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: 0
Idiot lights are hard to diagnose. Is there a way to hook up a volt meter to check what the battery voltage is when the car is off, vs. when its running?

I just dug up my volt meter, going to check it running vs off when I get the battery back, unless they say the battery was bad, then I'll know what it. Even with my limited car knowledge I know it can be something causing a serious drain on the battery. Before i Just poped the fuse behind the drain out, it wasn't a necessary one, I think it controlled the wipers. Had this problem a few years ago, the battery/Alt tested fine, and it would run but when shut off and left over night it wouldn't start the next day. I'd get a jump and it would run fine until the next night. There was a drain on the battery that nobody detected until they checked the voltage on the negative while the car was off. The solution until they figured out where the drain was coming from was to take the negative cable off the terminal when I got home for the night.

Hoping this is something similar.

And to funboy42 I think your definition of "not very hard" is different then mine. to get the Alt I gotta remove the Serpentine belt, which requires me getting completely under the car, then to get to ALT, looks like it would be fairly tough for somebody who doesn't have experience. Not saying I couldn't do it, but I have limited tools, and no way to get under my car to actually get to anything.

Ford's seem to always be a bitch to work on

 

[IGBT]

..batt.terminals need to be cleaned and secured atleast twice a year. start there.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: IGBT
..batt.terminals need to be cleaned and secured atleast twice a year. start there.

they look clean, I replaced the battery maybe 5 months ago, there was no corrosion and they were both on very tight. I will swab the terminals and connectors down, as it can't hurt. I wish it that easy to fix this problem, but this ford seems to have weird electrical issues about every 1.5 years hehe.

 

[Sukhoi]

The belt is pretty easy to check. First look for cracks both over both the length and width. Check and make sure the ridges that contact the accessory wheels look ok. Then check the tension. For the most part it should be tight so you can just barely move it. Maybe 1/4" to 1/2" over a foot or something like that.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

I think I may have found your problem:

Topic Summary: 2000 Ford Taurus

 

[QueBert]

*LAST UPDATE*

I want to thank funboy42, jacob0401, Sukhoi, IGBT & even mrSHEiK124 haha. Unfourtinally mrSHEiK124 the only replacement car I could afford would be worse than that I have now.

Pep Boys tested the battery and said it was bad, so they gave me a new one. I just replaced it within the past 6 months, so I'm confused why it went bad so quick. But after putting it in, and testing the voltage which isn't dipping at all, weather the car is on or off. I am comfortable that the car is safe to drive again.

Question though, before, if i had the car door open and the key in the ignition and the car was off, it would ding ding ding, I guess telling me either the key was in the ignition, the door was open or both. But with no key in the iginition it made no ding when the door was open. Now, it's dinging without the key in the ignition. Not really worried about it, just wondering why it started doing something it never did before.

 

[BUTCH1]

I bought a Die hard that died in 3 months, Sears replaced it for free,, said it had an
"internal short". I was in the same boat as you thinking it cant be the batt. but it was...

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: QueBert
*LAST UPDATE*

I want to thank funboy42, jacob0401, Sukhoi, IGBT & even mrSHEiK124 haha. Unfourtinally mrSHEiK124 the only replacement car I could afford would be worse than that I have now.

Pep Boys tested the battery and said it was bad, so they gave me a new one. I just replaced it within the past 6 months, so I'm confused why it went bad so quick. But after putting it in, and testing the voltage which isn't dipping at all, weather the car is on or off. I am comfortable that the car is safe to drive again.

Question though, before, if i had the car door open and the key in the ignition and the car was off, it would ding ding ding, I guess telling me either the key was in the ignition, the door was open or both. But with no key in the iginition it made no ding when the door was open. Now, it's dinging without the key in the ignition. Not really worried about it, just wondering why it started doing something it never did before.

Heh, I was just poking fun, glad to hear the car is running fine now.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: QueBert
*LAST UPDATE*

I want to thank funboy42, jacob0401, Sukhoi, IGBT & even mrSHEiK124 haha. Unfourtinally mrSHEiK124 the only replacement car I could afford would be worse than that I have now.

Pep Boys tested the battery and said it was bad, so they gave me a new one. I just replaced it within the past 6 months, so I'm confused why it went bad so quick. But after putting it in, and testing the voltage which isn't dipping at all, weather the car is on or off. I am comfortable that the car is safe to drive again.

Question though, before, if i had the car door open and the key in the ignition and the car was off, it would ding ding ding, I guess telling me either the key was in the ignition, the door was open or both. But with no key in the iginition it made no ding when the door was open. Now, it's dinging without the key in the ignition. Not really worried about it, just wondering why it started doing something it never did before.

Do you have the car in gear?

 

[CFster]

Originally posted by: funboy42
Voltage regulator going bad inside the alt, your going to need a new one. I suggest you do it yourself. Not a hard job at all to do, and change your serpentine belt while your at it since you have to remove it (sort a) to take off the alt. Not a very hard job to do really and you will save a bundle doing it yourself, buy a chiltons book at the parts store ($10) and the job shouldnt take no more then a half hour.

That's a pretty broad statement.

If he has the SOHC motor the book gets 0.8 hrs to r&r an alternator. If he has the DOHC 3.0L then the book gets 3.0hrs to do it. And I've done them - it takes every bit of that.

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: funboy42
Voltage regulator going bad inside the alt, your going to need a new one. I suggest you do it yourself. Not a hard job at all to do, and change your serpentine belt while your at it since you have to remove it (sort a) to take off the alt. Not a very hard job to do really and you will save a bundle doing it yourself, buy a chiltons book at the parts store ($10) and the job shouldnt take no more then a half hour.
If you do it should be around $100 for the alt and $35 for the belt plus $10 for the manual (manual will come in handy and pay for itself in no time) so Maybe a total of $150 and 1hr time since it is your first time.

Take it to a shop your looking at 3-4 hours wasted since you have to take it to them wait for it, may not get to it right away (how much is your time worth?), shop time of a MIN of $75 a hour and they will charge a min of 1 hour labor, alt will be 40% higher so $140 or more (they dont shop around and buy high), then there is shop fees on that so another $30 for a MIN total of around $240~ or more.

You can always wish it is a slipping belt in one hand and then sh1t in the other and see which it one fills up first, chance it being a slipped belt-0, why, its a serpentine belt set up so unless the tensioner pulley has given out its not going to slip, and if that was the case you be bitching about your steering going hard and soft and the car overheating for all the other stuff runs off the same belt

You sound like you know a lot about cars, before i read your message here i called a friend who's a Ford Master Mechanic, he said to start the car and remove the positive terminal from the battery, if the car doesn't die it's probably not the ALT. I did that, and it still ran, I turned on the high beams and reved it up a bit and the battery light didn't even come on. I'm taking the battery to Pep Boys to have it tested even though I doubt it's the battery.

anything else it might be? going to have the ALT checked for real once I get the battery back and know it's good. I don't know if the removing the ternimal is 100% when troubleshooting an ALT.

If you have a voltage reg thats going bad one day its working good and one days its giving low volts, could be that today when you did the testing of taking off the pos cable it was working. I see that they replaced your battery, sure its going to show low voltage if your voltage regulator isnt working properly because one minute its working and the next it isnt and its all running off the battery draining it and hence the low voltage when they tested it, but once it starts to act up again or worse finally gives out and runs completely off the battery till its drained and the car dies out on you, you will then know it was the voltage regulator giving you the hell all along. The idiot light was coming on because the times it wasnt working and running everything off the battery till the volts got low enough the light would flicker, the the regulator would kick in a few times and the light would go off.

But unfortunatly, since it works one min and the next it doesnt you will have to check it often in hopes to catch it at the time its not working, or just wait for it to die and the light to come on all the time indicating your system has been running solely off the battery and the volts are low enough to trigger the idiot light to come on, turn off everything electrical if you can and get somewhere fast. I wish I could give you more on this but it is an electrical part, they work or dont, and then you get the one in a million that works when it wants to and makes it a mechanics nightmare to diag and try to explain to a customer why when they bring it to the shop I cant find anything wrong and when they leave and get 5 min from home it acts up on them again but didnt one time the entire week I had it. There really isnt anything else it can be, you said you just had the battery replaced 6 months ago, they dont go bad that soon, and with it having low volts, and the light flickering, it points me right to a fault regulator in the alt that is working now and then. Been there done it, got the t-shirt and place money on it if I had it. Only one way to have low volts on a new battery, its being drained and NOT being recharged like it should be, that is the alt/reg's job and if it isnt doing it right all the electrical will run off the battery draining its volts showing low voltage when they tested it, but when they tested the system the reg decided to work at the time they tested it so sure it looked AT THE TIME as though it was working.

Sorry I can keep going on this, but I hope my point is across on how that system works and how you got the results you did, just a matter of time before it goes completely and your stranded.

Originally posted by: CFster

Originally posted by: funboy42
Voltage regulator going bad inside the alt, your going to need a new one. I suggest you do it yourself. Not a hard job at all to do, and change your serpentine belt while your at it since you have to remove it (sort a) to take off the alt. Not a very hard job to do really and you will save a bundle doing it yourself, buy a chiltons book at the parts store ($10) and the job shouldnt take no more then a half hour.

That's a pretty broad statement.

If he has the SOHC motor the book gets 0.8 hrs to r&r an alternator. If he has the DOHC 3.0L then the book gets 3.0hrs to do it. And I've done them - it takes every bit of that.

Id say since I wasnt sure which engine he had I wasnt to far off if in deed he has the SOHC, .8 is only .2 off of .6 (half hour nd again I gave him a hour for his first time) and that is book time, if your any kind of a mechanic you will get it done WAY before the book time for that is how you make money. As for the DOHC engine, it may take longer and be a bitch to do but still my statement runs true it will be cheaper if he did it. 3 hrs at a min of $75 hr for some one else to do it is a sh1t load of green.

 

[QueBert]

another update...

well put the new battery in, and the light started to blink again after 1 mile. Took it to Craigen and they tested the ALT, it was giving 13.94v and the charging looked good. Though the dude there said he couldn't tell me if the voltage regulator was bad or not. I took it to a local mechanic fellow I know, he tested the battery/alt and said while it was charging it seemed to be a bit low to him. Another mechanic I know who I spoke to on the phone said it sounded like the V.R. but besides that if it was charging it should be okay. I drove it about 250 miles this weekend, 99% freeway. On the way there the light blinked but not until about 75 miles in (106 total) on the way back today it started to blink about 50 miles in, then stopped about 90'ish.

From what I gather the Alt is technically working (since it's charging) but if the V.R. is bad I won't know 100%. So basically my only option is to replace the Alt right? But if I keep driving with a bad one, as long as it's charging things will be fine until the ALT stops giving a charge? I don't wanna push it either way, but am curious...

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: QueBert
another update...

well put the new battery in, and the light started to blink again after 1 mile. Took it to Craigen and they tested the ALT, it was giving 13.94v and the charging looked good. Though the dude there said he couldn't tell me if the voltage regulator was bad or not. I took it to a local mechanic fellow I know, he tested the battery/alt and said while it was charging it seemed to be a bit low to him. Another mechanic I know who I spoke to on the phone said it sounded like the V.R. but besides that if it was charging it should be okay. I drove it about 250 miles this weekend, 99% freeway. On the way there the light blinked but not until about 75 miles in (106 total) on the way back today it started to blink about 50 miles in, then stopped about 90'ish.

From what I gather the Alt is technically working (since it's charging) but if the V.R. is bad I won't know 100%. So basically my only option is to replace the Alt right? But if I keep driving with a bad one, as long as it's charging things will be fine until the ALT stops giving a charge? I don't wanna push it either way, but am curious...

Unfortunately the VR is built into the ALT and it is what regulates the charging output. The reason for the light coming on it because at times the VR doesnt work it runs off the batt, the batt volts get low enough to cause the light to come on, the the VR kicks in again and starts to charge once again, it is erratic and the times it has been tested it was working like I mentioned. There is just going to be a time it will give out completely on you and not kick back in, at that point your car will keep running and the batt light will stay on all the time until the car sucks all the power from the battery and your stuck where ever it goes dead.

My suggestion to you is not to wait for that day, there really is not many more things that will cause this problem, if it were a short it would be popping fuses, draining the battery, showing signs of a short, so I am ruling that out and sticking with my gut that your having a erratic VR, one thats not going out without a fight. Wish I could give you more, but not really, and I wish the times the light was flickering you were able to pull over and put a meter on the battery and see where it is charging at to be 100% sure.