Check Battery Light keeps coming on

justplainjohn

Problem appeared 3 Days Ago...Drove around 3 Miles to the store,halfway home the Check Battery Light pops on after I got home restarted the car-the battery light had cleared.Monday Morning I took it to my regular mechanic-(Local Mom & Pop Store) he checks Battery/Alternator (No Obvious Problems Detected)My Mechanic said it was getting a charge,Leave shop Battery Light Pops on,on way to work & on the way home twice more the Check Battery Light Pops On. Tuesday Morning I take it to my local SEARS where the battery is still under guarantee...Sears says my 14 mo old battery is just fine,swears I have a Bad Alternator and tries to sell me an re-manufactured alternator for $473.17 Plus Tax Installed. I take it back to my local mechanic who again swears it's not the alternator,they make modifications to the starter,I pay,leave the shop,not even half a mile down the road the Check battery light comes on! Car does not seem to hesitate,runs fine,AC on,Windows fine,Starts up fine-no hesitation,first crank of the key starts right up.So I plan on leaving it off tomorrow to see if my local mechanic can find anything.Chryslers and Electrical Issues have me thinking perhaps I need to cut my losses & trade it in.

Mr_Shiftright

Has anyone carefully check the wiring going into the alternator, and the connections to the PCM? Has anyone tried a "jiggle test", where you move the wires around while the light is on, and see if it goes off? If it does, then it's not an alternator issue.

Other possibilities are a bad ground. Maybe your mechanic needs to perform a voltage drop test on both battery cables.

justplainjohn

Mr_Shiftright said:

Has anyone carefully check the wiring going into the alternator, and the connections to the PCM? Has anyone tried a "jiggle test", where you move the wires around while the light is on, and see if it goes off? If it does, then it's not an alternator issue.

Other possibilities are a bad ground. Maybe your mechanic needs to perform a voltage drop test on both battery cables.

That is what I am thinking wiring or ground I am about to let the Garage have it for the 3rd day in a row.

justplainjohn

Dropped it off at the shop again this morning and from what I explained they are leaning toward an Alternator Diode Issue.We'll see if they still think that when they get a closer look but sounds plausible.

Mr_Shiftright

Or a problem with the built-in voltage regulator.

justplainjohn

OK So,yesterday they made modifications to the Starter ($80) today replaced Alternator,Serpentine Belt ($380).Seems the Alt was the Main Problem the entire time...the mods in Starter were badly needed,eventually it would not have started and the Belt was slipping very badly-so much so to where the power Steering would go out in a bad rainstorm.At approx 170,000 Miles (a little more than a year ago) the Motor Died...the Re-build had around 90,000-actually do very little driving around 20-30 miles a week So am hopeful I can get a few more years.This is a 2001 T&C aside from the Chrysler Clear Coat issues body is in great shape...Been an expensive week but at least I don't have CAR PAYMENTS..