YACT: Alternator = bad?

[sash1]

My '92 Camry (with only 211k miles 😛), has been acting strange. It started two days ago, I was driving home from the mall, when I notice that my battery light is blinking on and off, never really staying on for more than one second at a time. I really don't think much of it.

However, last night when I was driving home with a friend, I notice it happening again. But because it is during the night, I can realize the problem. My headlights are dimming whenever the battery light in my comes on. So my lights are dimming and then going back to normal constantly. Quite odd, many people must have thought I was flashing my lows at them 😀

So does this mean my alternator is bad? Is this a serious problem and should I have it fixed immediately, or is my car still safe to drive for a few days?

Thanks

`K

 

[Quixfire]

I would check the belt condition and tension first. If that looks ok< then I would say the voltage regulator is starting to go out in the alternator and since it's internal you would have to replace the alternator as an assembly.

 

[HiTek21]

It sounds like you have a bad alternator but do what quixfire said and see if the alternator belt has some tension or isn't all cracked/chewed up. If you have a multi meter available you could start the car and put see how many volts your battery has when the car is on. It should read mid 14's or high 13's.

I had my alternator on my old Prelude go bad, I would be driving and the battery light came on when i was driving at a lower RPM but would go away where I revved higher. Belt checked out okay but the multi meter only showed about 10.9 volts being put to the battery.

I drove on it for a few days but I made sure not to use anything electrical that wasn't necessary. I also charged the battery nightly to make sure I had enough juice to get back and forth to work.