after long winter having problems with charging system any ideas?

after long winter having problems with charging system any ideas?

What exactly has happened? Thanks! Greg

What exactly has happened? Thanks! Greg

I went to start it after it had been setting a while and the battery was dead. I charged the battery up, started it drove it and the dash lights went dim. I figured it to be the alternator or the battery. Since I was on the way home losing my lights at night I pulled into an auto zone the didn't have the alternator in stock so to get home I bought a new battery. By the time I got home approximately 30 min. my volts had started to drop. So I took the alternator into autozone to have it check, he checked it six times and it passed every time. Now I put it back on started the car and let it run a while and sure enough the volts started falling from 12 volts to about 11 volts and I shut it down at the point. I have gotten a charge system fault DIC message. I'm at a loss any help would be appreciated.

Well if the alternator is working your problem should lie in the pathway of the power coming from the alt. to the battery. I am sure you have already figured that out, as in the battery is not getting charged by the alt. even though the alt is indeed working. So I am wondering if there is a loose wire somewhere? I will get in touch with my buddy tomorrow about it, he has been working on cars for decades and should be able to pinpoint the problem! In the meantime hopefully someone else that may know will chime in!:cheers:

Greg

I do appreciate it, I'm still wondering if the alternator may be testing good but good be fading since the car has been sitting for about a day and the battery still has some charge. So I don't think that there is something internal draining it like an air pump for the seat bladder, which was brougt up on this forum. Thanks again, Matt

I do appreciate it, I'm still wondering if the alternator may be testing good but good be fading since the car has been sitting for about a day and the battery still has some charge. So I don't think that there is something internal draining it like an air pump for the seat bladder, which was brougt up on this forum. Thanks again, Matt

Hope you get it fixed soon!! Good luck!

Greg

If you have a multimeter you can check the ohms from the battery + to the alternator + terminals. Make sure you disconnect the ground side first though.

The resistance should be virtually zero. If it's more than 1 ohm (make sure you check your test leads ohms first!) then you have resistance built up somewhere in the alternator wiring or possibly at the alternator connector itself. If that's the case you can probably replace the connector and be on your way. If not you will have to replace the entire cable back to the battery. That's a bigger job.