Alternator ??

[Msvenom97]

So, months ago my message center screen went out. Just replaced it. after putting the dash back together ( I made sure the mes center worked before putting the dash back ) I notice my fuel gauge will not work. Then I went too start the car and got the clicking tone. I replaced the battery and dealt with the broken fuel gauge. Now i notice, my O/D light is not working. WTH !! Overdrive is working fine just no light on the secondary message center. Today after 26" of snow the car is dead again. Ughhhh!! I never had all the issues I've had with this 97 when I had my 93. ?? Alternator or...????replaced the conectors and cables and fuses.

 

[tixer]

I would be highly suspicious of the alternator.

When they fail, they can leak voltage internally, which would explain your perpetually dead battery. If they aren't regulating their output properly, it can impact all sorts of ancillary systems.

Regrettably, unless you have another car you can "borrow" one from, it's kind of a expensive thing to replace without being absolutely sure. You can take it off and have your local auto shop bench test it, but I believe beerdog recently had one that tested good at the shop, but was actually bad..

 

[steve]

the good news is the alternator comes out and goes in easy.

 

[billybadax]

Bad Diode?

So, months ago my message center screen went out. Just replaced it. after putting the dash back together ( I made sure the mes center worked before putting the dash back ) I notice my fuel gauge will not work. Then I went too start the car and got the clicking tone. I replaced the battery and dealt with the broken fuel gauge. Now i notice, my O/D light is not working. WTH !! Overdrive is working fine just no light on the secondary message center. Today after 26" of snow the car is dead again. Ughhhh!! I never had all the issues I've had with this 97 when I had my 93. ?? Alternator or...????replaced the conectors and cables and fuses.

I had a problem with my battery going dead over night. The alternator tesed good at Firestone My brother-in-law, the mechanic the mechanic, told me to disconnect the alternator (electrical connector on top of alternator at back). The battery did not go dead. The diode was bad. This caused a two-way current passage from battery to alternator. When the car wasn't on, the battery was discharging. Replaced the alternator and everything is fine now.

 

[beerdog]

My car was also doing all sorts of weird electrical things. Replacing the alternator and did the trick. I replaced them both at the same time 2 years ago at the same time. Luckily I still had the receipts and the parts store replaced both.

 

[driller]

I believe a lot of alternator failures are really voltage regulator failures. I've considered a HD alternator with a more robust external voltage regulator.

 

[chris2523]

i just replace the voltage regulator.