"battery" light is on full time, with no noticeable problems..

[pauly]

great, now my "battery" light is on full time...any ideas?

and in case your wondering the battery indicates it still good.

car runs great , no noticeable problems, idles fine, etc etc..

please help..

 

[happymatch]

might be alternator issue. if it happened just recently, you might check the voltages to check if the battery is holding a charge or alternator is giving enough power to the battery.

 

[jet150]

Could be alternator regulator and or the brush's are worn out.

 

[Macca]

Sounds like an alternator, Check to see if its charging and if its not I wouldn't be driving around on it just in case.

 

[snitz]

Yep..sounds like brushes..my Dunnydore did the same thing.Luckily the brushed in a Commodore bosch alternator can be removed by 2 screws in the back, Replaced the brushes and the light went out straight way.If your brushes arent easily accessible like a Bosch alternator then your up for a rebuild. I guess the alternator would have a in built reg but dont usually wear out like brushes..How many Kms on the car?.

 

[snitz]

Most alternators have 2 brushes that contact the shaft. Its not uncommon to have the car running fine still but the battery charge light to stay on constantly due to one of the brushes not contacting the shaft...Just remembered I test drove your car and the alternators done over 110,000kms?..

 

[pauly]

Yeh it's done 120k... Does anyone know what sort of figure I should be seeing as reasonable for a re-build/install ... Between $ and $ ??

 

[Macca]

the other thing you could try now that I think about it, give the housing at the back a light tap around the area of the brushes, they may be stuck and not running on the slip rings properly. Worth a try

I'm not too sure on the rebuild cost but if it turns out to be a lot, Josh up here has one for sale. I don't imagine it would cost too much to get it to you.

 

[snitz]

Brushes would cost F&%k all probably $50 or something.Its the labour to remove the alternator, get it repaired and back in thats gonna be the killer. You could go the second hand alternator option (which could suffer the same fate down the track)..or do the brushes in yours and have peace of mind that the alternator has new brushes and wont shit it self down the track. Hard call really..they both cost money and bend you over...ha ha!..damn cars!

 

[Macca]

Yep, Labor is always the killer, from memory, the old auto elec shop I worked at charged around $250 to rebuild an alternator plus parts I think. It also depends on the brand of alternator and type.

Ive had a look over Josh's alternator and looks to be in pretty good condition. Its up to you man, just giving you some more options

 

[fieldy107]

It will be your alternator. Might not be causing you problems now but give it a while and your car will eventually run out of charge or your battery will die. Brand new ones from ripsubishi cost about $900 so dont go there. Rebuild or 2nd hand is best option, but labor is the real killer. There is a good few hours work just getting access to the alternator. Pretty sure someone on the forums here is selling a second hand one, might be worth looking at as you will have trouble finding another in Australia.
You could buy the 2nd hand alternator, replace the brushes in it (if needed) and install it. When you pull your old one out, if only the brushes are worn out replace them and then sell it, make some of your money back. I have had 2 bad alternators in my Legnum, bit of a pain in the ass

 

[naughtika]

give the alternator a tap.. if the light goes away then your issue is definitely the brushes.. by tapping it the carbon brush would move slightly forward towards the center part (dunno what its called)

get a 2nd hand alternator and get the brushes replaced while it's out.. also I believe Trev is still selling a unit..

 

[happymatch]

took my $300 away to reconditioning it.

 

[naughtika]

$300 dollars?!

 

[jet150]

CHANGE THE REGULATOR YOURSELF!!! Why pay an auto elec to unplug two wires and remove a couple of bolts to remove the reg. The reg should cost no more than $50 from an auto elec supplier and is located at the rear of the alternator.

 

[Macca]

Because there isn't an external reg on these alternators. You have to disassemble the alternator to get to the reg which is integrated into the board that holds the diodes. I didn't look at it that closely but im guessing you would have to unsolder the tails of the brushes somewhere then solder the new ones on.

 

[jet150]

Because there isn't an external reg on these alternators. You have to disassemble the alternator to get to the reg which is integrated into the board that holds the diodes. I didn't look at it that closely but im guessing you would have to unsolder the tails of the brushes somewhere then solder the new ones on.

Correct our alternators have internal regs not external but they arn't hard to change either.

Once you remove the alternator split the case and unsolder the old reg and solder in the new one. Last time I did one there were 6 diodes I think.

 

[pauly]

My bad...its all fixed now..

What had happened was i had blown the fog lamp fuse, so i took out the "hazard light" fuse and put it in the fog lamp slot....only to find out the "battery light lamp" goes on if you don't replace fuses ..ie hazard lights...awesome cost me $1.00 to fix...thats gotta be the cheapest fix on the forum right?