Aloha400

aloha all. i was driving today and my charging light came on. My battery just recently purchased.. 5000 miles ago Do you think my alternator is going bad? I went to look for recent post concerning on this problem, but i didnt see one. Any help will be appreciated.

MISURA

Can't tell you what the problem is but from my experience, when my alternator bit the dust (the usual power steering fluid leaking onto the alternator problem) I had no indicator light come up on my dash. So it may not be the alternator.

Good luck.

RealMarty

The charging light indicates the car thinks your battery is not being charged. Could be a cable, the alternator or something else.

However, you are probably driving on the power left in your battery so it won't keep running for long.

Get it checked out so you don't end up with a dead car on the side of the road

Aloha400

took my car into the shop and found out it was my alternator. it was charging under 13. i think its about that time to change. to save a lil bit of money, i was thinking about changing it myself. do you know if its easy to change. thanks

The Ikon

Aloha,

The alternator is easy to replace. here's what needed to make life a little easier. jack, jack stand(s), racket, safety glasses, old blanket and about 40 - 60 minutes tops...

It's easily accessible and it's held in place by 2 bolts/nuts from the bottom and top.

MISURA

Congrats on finding the problem. Too bad it's a big ticket item.
Now I'm a little peeved that my charging light never came on when my alt. bit the dust, 600 miles from home at that. I wonder if the bulb is burnt out or...?

Aloha400

I was contemplating for a whole week if should send the my car to shop to get fix or do it myself. Sears wanted to charge me $508 parts and labor, local shop $330 parts and labor, Lexus dealer $525 just for the parts. So today I finally decided to do it myself and get my hands dirty. I bought the aftermarket alternator costing me $237.00. It's the cheapest one i can find. Being a military, we have a place where we can fix car( hobby car shop) for $3 an hour. As i headed on base, my car died on me..lucky me the shop is only 300 yards away. SO i pushed the car myself.. there goes my workout I took me two hours to fix the whole thing and also to recharge my battery. I think thats the most important thing before you install the new alternator or else.. Anyway. i was glad i did it. it save me lot of $$$, now i can chill on the beach with a Maitai. Thanks for your help guys. Now, my next project is to change my brake pads... any suggestions??