The battery light in my Eagle, Lewis, continues to glow (albeit dully) after all of the other diagnostic lights have gone off. Mother says the alternator could be going bad (it is the original after all ;D) ; I think it might be the wiring shorting out. As of a few hours ago, I took him on a fifteen minute round trip of the town where I live (garnering many ??? looks ;D). When I started him up, the battery light glowed brightly and then went off with all the others, but came back on when I tried to get him to move. He starts fine, idles a little rough (always has though :( ), and runs the same as always.
Most atoparts stores can check it out to tell you if the alt is good or not. Maybe its as simple as a bad ground.
Taking him to an auto store could help, that is, if mother would let me take him out of the county. For some reason, she is afraid something might happen to either me or him
Assuming tou do not have a volt meter.
Mother says we have a volt meter. Now we just need the time to use it. :-D
When at idle you should see about 14 volts.
Start the vehicle and disconnect the negative cable from the battery if the motor keeps running the alternator is working.
There should be a old post about the same problem you are having, I remember it going on for a good time since the problem couldn't be pinpointed it took a lot of trial and error.
When mine was glowing, the alternator was going bad. I think I drove it for about a year with it glowing, but it got worse. I replaced the alternator, no more glow.
Mine was glowing. The engine was TOOOOO retarded. It like the computer told the battery, "I'm not going to charge you for my engine isn't timed. I advanced the timing. Battery has been charging ever since and strongly.
MY AMX was doing the same thing. One thing I did notice it glowed brighter with the lights pulled on , thus it wasn't quite totally shot, but the load of the lights made it worse , as it couldn't keep up with the demand.
I did the same thing with my headlights as 68AMXGOPAC, but it didn't make any difference. Then I disconnected the negative battery cable (thanks to Gil-SX4 for the tip) and he still ran. Actually, he started to idle smoother with the cable off :-\. While the cable was off, the battery light grew so dim I could only see it by cupping my hands over the instrument panel. The only thing left to check is the alternator ground wire. I just have to trace it from the alternator up. And I can't find it right now :banghead:
It has been said on here that it will damage an alternator to let the motor run with the ground cable disconnected. I would not do it for a long period of time. Many people, including me, have done it as a test.
Don't forget that most of our AMC Eagles are older then 20 years, so it is a good idea to check all the cables, wires, terminals and connections. All so make sure you clean the connections.
Quote from: Gil-SX4 on August 08, 2011, 11:53:52 PM
Don't forget that most of our AMC Eagles are older then 20 years, so it is a good idea to check all the cables, wires, terminals and connections. All so make sure you clean the connections.
Hmmm, I would say all of our Eagles are over 20 years old : ) .
I've been very anal about that. i put a little dieletric grease on the terminals and plug in's for proper connection and power!
I've tried looking for the ground wire on my alternator. I found two wires, besides the battery cable, but neither of them is green (a color which I have been taught is the proper color to use when grounding something) I followed both of them, but lost them when they turned a different color and merged with the other wires in the harness. Any help? Please?
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you will find a ground wire. The body of the generator bolted to the brackets bolted to the engine acts as your ground. Your negative battery cable may need cleaning at the engine side (along with where it grounds) for better contact. Other than that make sure all your main grounds are clean and in good shape. Maybe just pluck the generator out and have it tested to be certain it's not putting out low voltage (advance auto does it for free).
*oh and another side note, if the plastic bushing around the post that the direct battery power hooks to on the generator is bad, it will cause your GEN light to come on (happened to me more than once ::)).
Thank you for the advice Shaggimo ;D
No problem, lol.
Okay...... As of about seven minutes ago, I tried to take Lewis on a drive. Opened the door, dome light lit up. Put the key in the ignition, turned it; all the diagnostic lights came on nice and bright. turned the key more, nothing. Tried again; still nothing. So I went in and got mother. She tried the same thing; still nothing. Turned the headlights on. Nice and bright. Turned the key while the headlights were on. Still nothing but the headlights didn't dim at all. Any advice to offer someone who's :banghead:
Hmmm, not sure, but would still check the battery ground to engine,and the selenoid wires. I am trying to remember if there is an engine to firewall ground that some have had issues with or not...
I'm just wondering if something got chewed under her hood by what ever it was that brought the toy, feather, wood and acorns. I just had $250 worth of chewed wires repaired today in our van that is usually parked next to her Eagle. We just don't have enough predators around. Rita
Don't forget to make sure you have a engine block to body ground cable, its all so a good idea to install a battery to body ground.
Quote from: Gil-SX4 on August 12, 2011, 01:08:34 AM
Don't forget to make sure you have a engine block to body ground cable, its all so a good idea to install a battery to body ground.
Xs 2 on this, Also make sure sure your battery terminals and cables are nice and clean, they can be very sensitive to a poor connection.
Okay, mother looked at Lewis' engine this morning. Turns out I had pulled the starter solanoid ground from the nub when I was looking for the alternator ground wire yesterday. Reattached the solanoid ground and he started just fine. But the battery light is still on, so the search for the answer continues! ;D
That is a cool pic of the nose of your car heading down that dissapearing in the distance road.
Thank you 68AMXGOPAC. I took that on one of the many dirt roads in the county. It was one of the cooler winter days we had last winter. If my memory is right, it was taken a couple days before we had that big ice-storm here. 8)
:hello:
................ glad he started !!! brushes could be going/nearly gone internal to the alternator ... all wiring would be normal.
Iron Horse ;D