Charge, no charge

1999 Grand Am – 4 Cylinders – Auto

Started car and battery light came on. Gave car a little gas and it went off. Started driving and random lights would come on and go off. Low traction, abs, battery, etc. Air conditioner fan slowed way down by itself. Speedometer, tach, temp and fuel gage all went to zero. Randomly they would start working and then go back off.

Made it home and battery was dead. Charged battery, and restarted car. Everything started working properly except battery light remained on. Pulled negative cable with car running and motor died. Thought I had it figured out, got to be alternator.

Pulled car in the garage and realized no battery light on now. Left motor running and pulled negative cable again. Motor did not quit this time.

Any ideas or guesses are appreciated.

My next step is to have a priest exercise the gremlins away. JK

Borrowed my son’s scanner but maybe someone has experienced similar and knows exactly what it is.

Sounds like worn brushes or faulty regulator. Pull the unit and have it tested at the parts store.

Im quite certain "carsrcool" will agree.

How old is the battery? If it is more than 5 years old it may not be holding a proper charge. Also, make sure you have good connections at the battery and the alternator and be absolutely certain that the ground wire is making good contact. Having the alternator checked is a good idea. Finally, check the belt and make sure it is properly tightened and not slipping. A slipping belt may cause similar issues.

Sounds like worn brushes or faulty regulator. Pull the unit and have it tested at the parts store.
I will have it checked. All the other electronics acting up had me wondering but probably the low current evidently produced strange results with the gauges and lights.

Scanner showed low voltage (3.6) and battery light came back on again.

Thanks for your help.

How old is the battery? If it is more than 5 years old it may not be holding a proper charge. Also, make sure you have good connections at the battery and the alternator and be absolutely certain that the ground wire is making good contact. Having the alternator checked is a good idea. Finally, check the belt and make sure it is properly tightened and not slipping. A slipping belt may cause similar issues.
I had to replace battery about 4 months ago. Hope this hasn’t damaged it. It’s an Interstate brand, they will probably replace free if so. Cables are new.

Thanks for your suggestions.

The guage issue is being caused by low voltage since they are electronic. Once the voltage is restored the guages work correctly. If the battery is only 4 months old I doubt that is the problem. It does however sound like the voltage regulator is not working right. Autozone or Advance or any other parts store should be able to check the alternator for you. Otherwise check every ground on the car especially the main ground on the block. If there is any corrosion it can cause voltage issues especially intermittant ones.

Almost fixed-
Old alternator passed their test. I bought another one anyway. My thinking: Original one lasted 5 years; remanufactured one lasted 4+ years, should be due anytime for another. Put alternator on last night and all problems appear to have been eliminated except it now squeals. Same sound as if a belt was slipping except sound does not disappear as RPM’s increase.

I’m fixing to pull the belt and rotate what I can to check for roughness or resistance. The only new part is the remanufactured alternator.

If the belt is old or shows signs of cracking, Metallic spots or other imperfections, Change it. The belt has probably seen better days and is slipping due to the load from the alt trying to recover the battery.
Re-charge the battery with a charger. The alt is only designed to maintain the battery, not charge it up.

If the belt is old or shows signs of cracking, Metallic spots or other imperfections, Change it. The belt has probably seen better days and is slipping due to the load from the alt trying to recover the battery.
Re-charge the battery with a charger. The alt is only designed to maintain the battery, not charge it up.
Ok, I’m guilty of trying to let the alt charge it up. I will charge it right with a charger on a low amp rate. I could find no problems with the pulleys or new alt. Belt is about 4.5 years old and has some cracks. Thanks for you input.

No problem. These newer alts can't take the abuse or the heat. You can beat an alt to death with a low battery. After you're all charged up and running for a couple of days, Have the battery load tested. I'm not impressed with interstate batteries.
Just my opinion and experience!

Follow up:
Car ran fine for a week and now battery light is back on. I pulled battery cable with motor running and motor died. Alternator was recently changed and battery is fully charged. Old alternator would allow car to run with cable removed one moment and the next it wouldn’t.

History: In my first post above, I mentioned the gauges doing weird things on my way home when car initially quit. I failed to mention transmission was shifting very hard at the same time. It was banging the gears hard.

I mention all the above hoping the symptoms might shed more light on the problem. Is there some type of computer component that could fail and not allow car to charge and cause some of the symptoms?

I know first thing is probably to pull new alternator and have it checked but I’m really wondering if there is a better place to look first.

I hooked scanner up and no codes are displayed.

Take the alternator back and have it tested. It should be replaced under warranty. Did you have the battery load tested as I suggested in a previous post? If the battery is shorted or weak, it does'nt take long to waste an alternator.

Remanufactured alternator lasted one week. It failed their test 3 times in a row. Man at auto parts store insisted on testing it 3 times. Failing once was good enough for me; I don’t understand why they test them 3 times? It’s not like I’m going to say: It works half the time, well ok then, I’ll put it back on the car…

I would not accept a replacement but paid a few dollars more and got a brand new one. I was getting fed up installing and removing alternators. I was getting way too good at it J

Battery passed all their tests.

I also traced all wires from the battery to starter and alternator insuring nothing had got too hot and grounded itself against the block, etc.

I believe all is well now. Thanks for your help.

If I'm not mistaken this is the third time in a couple of weeks that someone with similar issues have had to take a "rebuilt" unit back for defects. Seems to be an industry wide issue with aftermarket replacement parts not making the grade per say!
I'm glad everything worked out for you and thanks for posting back. hopefully this will help others.