Charge Light Always On

[JohnGunn]

1990 Festiva L, 178,000 miles

My car has suddenly begun to run with the "charge" light always on. The battery, with car not running, shows a charge well over 12 volts, but the alternator seems to be working very hard -- belt squeals loudly even at low RPM with no lights or electrical motors running. Before the charge light started coming on, the belt never squealed.

Anybody know what could be causing this and where all the current being produced by alternator could be going.

Also would it be wise to drive the car 15 to 20 miles to the nearest AutoZone to have the system tested?

Thanks in advance for your help.
John

[batstiva]

Sounds to me like a bearing in the alternator might be going out. Still allowing it to spin, just not as fast, or as easily as it should. Still producing enough charge to run the car, but not enough to satisfy the system that it is getting what it is supposed to get. Also would explain the belt noise, as the belt would not be turning at a uniform speed around all the pulleys.

Just my advice, if you have no means to test the alt. yourself, go ahead and run it by Advance, or Autozone, and let them test it.

[Pu241]

I'm betting on a slipping belt!
Tighten the Alt/water pump belt.
But, do not over tighten the belt and see if the charge light goes off.
Simple and free.

[hotfordcat]

^^^ And loosen the Alt first, remove the belt, and try to turn the pulley by hand first. If a bearing is causing the problem you should be able to feel it. If it turns free, now reinstall the belt and tighten it. No sense doing it twice if a bearing is bad.

[sanjeet]

when you do the fan belt loosen the nut on the sliding bracket and under the car loosen the alternator bolt.

what I do is get a large screw driver and tension the fan belt so the belt deflects about a quarter of an inch, lock the top bolt then the bottom bolt that you can get to easily with a ring spanner, you don't need to jack up the car.

If you fit a new belt re-tension it after a week....the belts are cheap and in NZ are about $12(NZ) that's about $5(US)

Good advice to spin the alternator when the belt is lose by hand, also a squeal can indicate a blown diode, but that gets tricky, I agree with pu241 and hotfordat they are correct

[JohnGunn]

Resolution

Thanks for all your suggestions. The problem turned out to be the alternator. It failed the test at AutoZone. I had a used one in storage which passed the test and ran without the charge light coming on, but there wasn't much grease left in the bearings and it made a lot of noise. Yet another trip to the salvage yard to find one from a 1991 Festiva. It was full of grease and seemed to have been replaced not long before its car confronted its untimely fate.

In the process of dealing with these three old alternators I learned not to allow any cleaning fluids to enter the alternator. I let that happen with the first two, thinking that the bearings inside must be well sealed, but not so. The day after cleaning they both showed slight signs of seizing. The third alternator I cleaned more carefully and only the outside. Those bearings were not harmed.

[eurotiva]

There are other alternators that fit too. If your local yard ever runs out of festivas.

[GenevaDirt]

There are other alternators that fit too. If your local yard ever runs out of festivas.

Are you going to enlighten him/us......lol

[eurotiva]

I like the protege 323 65 amp. Others say a capri 90 amp is the way to go but the local yard here has none.

[Pu241]

And I believe and one model of the Escort is a direct fit as well.
Will let 25Horseplay give details as it was his find.