98 Eclipse Battery/Alternator issue

The car has been fine ever since I got it. No real problems at all. The other day, I drove to work in the morning, no problems. Shut off the car, nothing was left on or anything. I jump in the car to go home later that afternoon and the battery light and the brake light are both lit up on the dash. Pretty weird, seeing as how I hadnt been beating around on the car or anything, and the brakes are ok, a little squeak though. I have a red top optima battery. The brake fluid is ummmmmmmmmmmm OK.... lol. Anyways I figure that the alternator is just shot and its not charging the battery. The car hasnt died or stalled, the dash lights MIGHT be dimmer, if its not my imagination. I have a subwoofer and amp and capacitor. A funny thing is if I'm listening to the radio and I flip the blinker on, the radio shuts off then turns back on again, even if i turn the amp and sub off. Other than the radio I'm pretty sure nothing else is wrong. The lights on the dash just make me leery.

So earlier this evening my neighbor is talking to me and we look under the hood, and I just happen to notice, hidden very carefully, hanging off a wiring harness that goes into the alternator is another single wire with a tiny metal bracket with a hole in it that isnt connected to anything. I also notice a screw thats unscrewed about halfway. So in absolute frustration I screw the bracket into that spot and tighten it down. I start up the car and let it run for a minute, lights are still on. I drive it around my neighborhood for about 6-7 minutes, light stays on, and the radio still shuts off then on again when i hit the blinker. Any ideas what might be happening? I have an appointment on monday to get the alternator checked. Is there anything I could possible check or do myself to avoid a $300+ mechanical bill? thank you VERY much and I apologize for the lengthy message. any help would be great!:)

Have you checked all the fuses? If they all check out good, look for loose wires under your dash (mainly the radio area).

could the wire be a ground wire? if so that would explain a lot. I dont know much about the alternator. Out of the harness that plugs into the front of the alternator, just to the left side of it, was a wire coming out that wasnt attached, thats the wire i screwed onto the alternator itself. should this wire be attached to the block or a part of the frame or something????

turns out the little wire i saw hangng off the harness was just a mount to hold the wires lol. I took the alternator off and took it to autozone and then advance auto, they both ran a test and the alternator failed. its under warranty, so im hoping that a new one will fix the problem. any other suggestions?

alright i took the alternator in, got a new one(thanks to warranty:rofl: )and put it in. car car started right up, all the lights were off. one thing though is this obnoxiously loud squeal. the alternator is on tight and the belt is tight but it still squeals. brand new alternator(err might be a re-man), belts are in good condition. i sprayed some WD40 on it and it wouldnt go away or even change pitch or anything. any ideas for that? lol

congrats on getting the problem fixed... I would say that the squeaking is normally caused by a loose belt, did u change out the belt, or usethe old one???

I might suggest you inspect the old belt(if reused), and if damaged or cracking, replace it... gl

sometimes belts just squeel cause they are new and it takes a few starts to get them in place its nothing critical so drive with it a while and see if it fixes itself. If not then its time to start tweaking.

i just used the same old belt, after closer inspection though i see its started to fray atiny bit. ill replace it this weekend probably. it still squeals, only not all the time, just when i start it up. its SO embarrassing.:frown:

DO NOT spray anything on your new belt, especially WD40. It will dry out the belt and actually make the squeal louder and the belt's life will be drastically reduced because of deterioration. Any kind of belt dressings are actually worse for belts than good.

i just used the same old belt, after closer inspection though i see its started to fray atiny bit. ill replace it this weekend probably. it still squeals, only not all the time, just when i start it up. its SO embarrassing.:frown:

Yeah, I had a belt that looked to be in fair condition on my '97... it jumped off the pulleys several times, I looked closer and noticed lots of cracking in the ribs, replaced it and it's fine...

understood a/b the squealing... it's even worse when it's the head gasket squealing and coolant shooting/smoking everywhere... (poor old Escort)