alternater an batt ok but acted weird last night

[mattman]

ok so we had the tank out last night an after a lil while the charge light came on and then the car sort of hicupped like the power was flicked off an back on so brought it home ..battery connection is good alternater is good ......what am i missing .....oh an looks like im gonna need a new radiator cuzz the top seems to be seperating ......any ideas is it a loose conection or has anyone had this problem

[Festiva Time]

The Charge Light coming on means the alternator output was equal or lower than the Battery voltage. A loose connection in the charging system would cause it.

You do not say if the Charge Light went out, or not. You sure the alternator is good? Outputting over 13volts?

You check your Alternator belt? Belt breaks, no charging and no water pump, leads to overheating and possible radiator damage. Check the coolant level. Water pump turns?

[mattman]

belts are good batt terms a lil loose ..as for the rad the water pump is working good but the top of the rad is seperated so it will need replaced just got the car 2 weeks ago so going thru finding the bugs in her ...thanks for the advice

[Darlo]

HEY! I just went through the same thing! ONLY I ended up replacing both my alt and batt before I realized what the problem was .

I had to totally take apart my terminals, and clean them really well with a wire brush and baking soda and scotch bright.....

Was pretty pissed off to find out that I wasted $170 on a new alt, and $80 on a new batt, only to find out it was just a ten minute cleaning that was really needed..... Oh well, at least I have a new charging system, lol...

Let me know if that works

[mattman]

thanks for the heads up Darlo i didnt get to mess with it today but this weekend i figure im just gonna go thru the engine compartment left to right an check an clean all the connectors ..sometimes overkill is a good thing right?

[wybnrml]

Also check the fusible links. The fuse block is on the driver side strut tower with three wire links. Check them for corrosion and if they look bad replace them with cartridge fuses. If you do replace them most people use 30-40-30 amp fuses left to right.

[mattman]

jus went out an took a quick look an one is a just a black wire with connecters on it so they get replaced this weekend too ....hey what can a guy expect its a camo festy with a gun turret on the roof ....work in progress