"Charge" indicator lits up dimly at low speed...

Hello folks,

I visit this newsgroup regularly and everytime I have any problem with
my car, I get the most accurate diagnosis from you folks.. so I am here
again with a new problem.

In my '94 Mazda Protege (185K miles), the "CHARGE" indicator has been
coming on when the car is either stationary (at a signal light, for
example) or when going very slow under 10mph. The indicator completely
goes away once the car is running over 10-15mph. And the indicator is
very dimly lit.

I had replaced my alternator and alternator fan belt about a year ago.
The fan belt broke again 2 months ago and I had replaced it. The
battery is also just a month old.

>From these symptoms, could someone please suggest what the problem
could be. I hope its not the alternator. Everytime I see that charge
light coming on, I begin to fade .. But as I mentioned, it does not
light up fully.. its very dim.

Thanks in advance for your help.
-Mark

Mark wrote:
> Hello folks,
>
> I visit this newsgroup regularly and everytime I have any problem
with
> my car, I get the most accurate diagnosis from you folks.. so I am
here
> again with a new problem.
>
> In my '94 Mazda Protege (185K miles), the "CHARGE" indicator has been
> coming on when the car is either stationary (at a signal light, for
> example) or when going very slow under 10mph. The indicator
completely
> goes away once the car is running over 10-15mph. And the indicator is
> very dimly lit.
>
> I had replaced my alternator and alternator fan belt about a year
ago.
> The fan belt broke again 2 months ago and I had replaced it. The
> battery is also just a month old.
>
> >From these symptoms, could someone please suggest what the problem
> could be. I hope its not the alternator. Everytime I see that charge
> light coming on, I begin to fade .. But as I mentioned, it does not
> light up fully.. its very dim.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
> -Mark

Sounds like a crappy regulator in a reman alternator. It may be
correctly lighting the charge light because charge current is too low,
or it may be incorrectly lighting the lamp because its a poor grade
crap regulator.

In rare cases the only cure for an aftermarket reman alternator is a
factory reman. I don't think your 94 Protege classifies as one of
those cases. But atleast think about changing brands, esp. if it's an
Autozone unit.

Toyota MDT in MO

I have a Bosch reman alternator that I had replaced last year... didn't
buy the autozone one..

Mark wrote:
> I have a Bosch reman alternator that I had replaced last year...
didn't
> buy the autozone one..

I'm sorry to say, but the Bosch aftermarket devision of replacement
electrical parts sells a high percentage of poorly designed or
incompatible products. I laugh at Bosch labeled stuff like their
wires, gadget spark plugs, and universal O2 sensors. I now HIGHLY
suspect a bad regulator in your reman.

The likelyhood that the lamp wire or its harnass connector are
partially grounded is very remote, as is the presence of enough
charging circuit resistance to cause the alternator to struggle at
idle. It's really most likely a bad alternator.

Toyota MDT in MO

Thanks for your replies. If it is a bad regulator, how serious problem
is it? Does this mean that the alternator is not sending enough current
at low speed, but it catches up at high speed. So as long as the car is
not running idle for too long, I am okay? As long as the car is driven
at high speed, will it still continue to perform its function?

My mazda is now my backup car, so I am trying to minimize on money
spent on repairs.

"Mark" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks for your replies. If it is a bad regulator, how serious problem
> is it? Does this mean that the alternator is not sending enough current
> at low speed, but it catches up at high speed. So as long as the car is
> not running idle for too long, I am okay? As long as the car is driven
> at high speed, will it still continue to perform its function?
>
> My mazda is now my backup car, so I am trying to minimize on money
> spent on repairs.
>
Your analyses seem valid--with just a degree of good luck, .....s

In article .com>,
"Mark" > wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> I visit this newsgroup regularly and everytime I have any problem with
> my car, I get the most accurate diagnosis from you folks.. so I am here
> again with a new problem.
>
> In my '94 Mazda Protege (185K miles), the "CHARGE" indicator has been
> coming on when the car is either stationary (at a signal light, for
> example) or when going very slow under 10mph. The indicator completely
> goes away once the car is running over 10-15mph. And the indicator is
> very dimly lit.
>
> I had replaced my alternator and alternator fan belt about a year ago.
> The fan belt broke again 2 months ago and I had replaced it. The
> battery is also just a month old.
>
> >From these symptoms, could someone please suggest what the problem
> could be. I hope its not the alternator. Everytime I see that charge
> light coming on, I begin to fade .. But as I mentioned, it does not
> light up fully.. its very dim.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
> -Mark

Is it actually charging ok? What's system voltage at idle and lower
speeds? Have you had problems the battery going down?

It might be ok, and you just have an bogus idiot light issue.

Just for laughs, why don't you clamp a jumper cable between the block,
and body, and see if it makes it go away... won't cost anything, and
only take a second. Bad grounds can cause strange things sometimes...

Good Luck,

Erik

On 14 May 2005 15:53:08 -0700, "Mark" > wrote:

>Hello folks,
>
>I visit this newsgroup regularly and everytime I have any problem with
>my car, I get the most accurate diagnosis from you folks.. so I am here
>again with a new problem.
>
>In my '94 Mazda Protege (185K miles), the "CHARGE" indicator has been
>coming on when the car is either stationary (at a signal light, for
>example) or when going very slow under 10mph. The indicator completely
>goes away once the car is running over 10-15mph. And the indicator is
>very dimly lit.

Altenators are more efficent at higher rpms. There are ones that run
great at lower rpms, but they required larger amounts of wire and
materials making them more expensive.

So, if your altenator is putting out lower voltages at idle speeds and
is below the norm voltage, your charging light coming on is correct.
The question now is why? Is it your altenator, or your batter, or
some other component.

Here is what I would do. Check the battery with the car off(no
accessories either). The start the car, and check the voltage
again(this time the altentor is the source, and you can check the
health). if the voltage is low while running, this confirms the light
as being accurate, now I would figure why?

- Check belt tensions.
- Is battery taking a charge/hold one.
- Altenator explosed to engine fluids(my saturn power steering pump
seal failed and damaged my alt, almost by design considering how often
they fail, and where they are place to damage other expensive
components. Damn Saturn Engineers!!! Sorry, ranting)

Move following....


>
>I had replaced my alternator and alternator fan belt about a year ago.

Is it under warrenty. I think places like pepboys warrenty their
parts for life. Atleast when I buy them over the counter. Have the
mech check it.

>The fan belt broke again 2 months ago and I had replaced it. The
>battery is also just a month old.

I once bought a bad battery. It could have been damaged in transist
to the store, it wouldn't charge to full power, and made my alt
overwork.

>
>>From these symptoms, could someone please suggest what the problem
>could be. I hope its not the alternator. Everytime I see that charge
>light coming on, I begin to fade .. But as I mentioned, it does not
>light up fully.. its very dim.
>
>Thanks in advance for your help.
>-Mark


BTW, if at all you are uncomfortable with working on your car safely,
get qualified help.

imho,

tom @ www.WorkAtHomePlans.com

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your expert advice. In my initial post, I had
forgot to mention one other side effect that I was noticing since the
charge light started coming on. Earlier, my temperature needle would
always stay at the 50% mark. Now, since I have started noticing the
charge light coming on dimly at low or idle speeds, I have also noticed
that the temperature needle now stays at about 40% mark. Is this
something to be worried about and is it related to the alternator
problem?

Thank you all very much for your insights, I greatly appreciate it.

Mark

Thanks to everyone that replied. As some of you had guessed, the
problem was a bad regulator in the alternator. Since it was still under
warranty from the replacement 11 months ago (it came with 12month/12K
miles warranty), the auto repair shop replaced it at no extra cost to
me.

Thanks again for your help.
Mark