Charging light coming on

Donatello · Jan 14th, 2005, 05:56 PM

I have a 1987 Nissan Sentra with a 1.6L engine.
The charging light is coming on dim, and gets a little brighter when I hit the brakes or really gets brighter when I turn on the Rear window defroster.

I have replaced the battery because the garage said it was no good and they tested the alternator and said it seemed okay.

From what I have read here so far it sounds to me like the alternator is starting to go. Am I right or can there possibly be other things to check, Voltage regulator?, Ground?, Bad connection?, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give,
Donatello

RotaryRyan · Jan 14th, 2005, 06:27 PM

When my alternator went bad, autozone still tested it good(on 3 different occasions with 3 different peple testing it.) so....... Theyre tests arent always right.

lshadoff · Jan 14th, 2005, 06:55 PM

Check the alternator belt tension. It could be to loose and slipping when the alternator is trying to charge the battery.

Lew

**chimmike** · Jan 14th, 2005, 07:16 PM

this isn't a GA16, this is an E16...it belongs in a different section.

Donatello · Jan 14th, 2005, 08:36 PM

Sorry new to this board wasn't sure which it was.

winstonsmith · Jan 14th, 2005, 11:32 PM

Yeah first thing make sure the belt and the belt tension are good. If they are the alternator is likely on its way out. Mine was doing the exact same thing. A few weeks later it died entirely.

Crazy-Mart · Jan 15th, 2005, 12:49 AM

x2 check for proper tension on the belt

than : check for corroded connection to it and the batterie.

if all comes ok, then the alternator is going. (you might want to change it fast if it is going since it will use up the batterie very quickly)

Gsolo · Jan 15th, 2005, 02:36 PM

the biggest problem with testing is that everywhere you only bench test it.....it needs to be tested in the vehicle for the things that everyone has been listing such as low tension and bad connections. You could have a burned up wire somewhere or just to much corosion, or a seriously bad ground from the engine.

old_sentra · Jan 19th, 2005, 11:17 PM

well already have this trouble i'ts the end of ur alternator probably
check it withh a multimeter

Gsolo · Jan 19th, 2005, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_sentra

well already have this trouble i'ts the end of ur alternator probably
check it withh a multimeter

umm....you can't test the alternator with a multimeter. you'll blow a fuse with a multimeter...unless you're going to measure volts which doesn't tell you enough.

old_sentra · Jan 20th, 2005, 09:29 PM

...with the voltmeter u can have a good idea if the alternator is good or not ..

Gsolo · Jan 20th, 2005, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_sentra

...with the voltmeter u can have a good idea if the alternator is good or not ..

you can see if its up at 14 volts or little more....but reading amps is best, and diode testing.

old_sentra · Jan 20th, 2005, 11:12 PM

yeah i know but if u check it with voltmeeer and it's not over 14 then be sure it's scrap or the belt..
and it only take u 2 minutes

sentrapower · Jan 27th, 2005, 02:36 AM

Hey,

I just had this problem no more than 2 weeks ago. If you cant get a way to test for amperage even using volts and then turing on all the electrical things in the car (sterio, heat, rear defrost etc.) see if it drops, lower than i think about 12 or so and it might be your alternator. My battery light just came on dimly at first but begain to get brighter, so it was a slow death for my alternator, this sounds like yours. Like you said when i turned stuff on the light got brighter. Right now you may have enough amps to do basic things (spark some heat etc.) but as time goes on you will lose this. In my case i was running a 50 amp alternator and only producing 20 amps. (this was caused by 2 of the diodes being dead, it works in 3 120 degree cycles, so 2 of the cycles were not working properly this gave me 1/3 of my amp output.)
Get a electrial system check,its very cheap and will eliminate the other components of the electrical system.

This was all my experence anyways, and all is well now i got a new rebuilt alternator for 60 bucks canadian, so its not that bad of a hit to take.

Good luck