engine and drivetrain charging light on at 3500-4000RPM?

[vintage_car]

Very odd. I had some squeaks from the engine bay I';ve been trying to troubleshoot this weekend, and Had the altenator loose, but not off the car. Never touched any of the electrical connections. I tightened it back up and still have the squeeks at accelleration and now along with that at 3500RPM the chargine light starts to fade on and by 4000RPM it is bright and after 4000RPM it starts to fade away again? Does this in every gear, but only when moving. I'f I'm parked and just rev nothing happens? What is going on? I try to fix one problem and now have 2...

By the way the altenator, battery and voltage regulator are all only about 2 months old.

[Mike Self]

1. Loose belt--esp something dripping on it to lubricate--leaky water pump or hose?

2. Badly worn alt mounting bushings that will make the alt loose even tho you've tightened the adjustment. Replace with urethane and the problem won't reoccur.

3. Bad/broken ground wire for alternator (big brown wire running from alt frame to engine block)...check to make sure the wire isn't broken under the insulation.

4. Similarly check the three wires that go into the plug on the alternator's backside. Wires can break under the insulation and look good on the outside. Also make sure the plug is firmly seated and held in place by its wire bail. Similarly check the plug on the voltage regulator...

That'll get you started

mike

[vintage_car]

I know I don't have a leaky water pump, no indication of that. Where can I get urethane bushings for the altenator? Also there is a hose that runs from the top of the radiator down around the edge of it, there is some residue from it. Should I get a catch can for that? The belt doesn't seem loose at all. I'll check the electrical connections tomorrow.

[Zenon]

Very odd. I had some squeaks from the engine bay I';ve been trying to troubleshoot this weekend, and Had the altenator loose, but not off the car. Never touched any of the electrical connections. I tightened it back up and still have the squeeks at accelleration and now along with that at 3500RPM the chargine light starts to fade on and by 4000RPM it is bright and after 4000RPM it starts to fade away again? Does this in every gear, but only when moving. I'f I'm parked and just rev nothing happens? What is going on? I try to fix one problem and now have 2...

By the way the altenator, battery and voltage regulator are all only about 2 months old.

I have seen this symptom exactly once and it was the alternator itself at fault. It also made the turn signals go nuts if they happened to be on about the rpm where the light came on. I have not tested it to see what was wrong with it, but the charge light behaviour was identical to yours. I suspect it has a bad diode or two that caused some voltage spikes that upset the electronic flasher relay and/or there was a bad connection that was accidentally fixed when I swapped in a spare alternator.

You have the thick ground wire from the alternator case to the engine block, right?

regards,

Zenon

[Mike Self]

You can get urethane alternator bushings from most "usual sources"--mine came from my local foreign car emporium and I'm sure they're available from most anyone who stock 2002 stuff. You can do the bushings once with urethane and not have to do 'em again; the OEM rubber ones last 4-5 years depending on how much oil your engine leaks.

For your radiator overflow hose (the little skinny pipe that runs down from the filler neck)...make sure the hose hangs down below the radiator support panel (the OEM one doesn't) and you won't have to worry about rust in the area, or overflow blowing back into the engine room. The only time that comes into play is if you've overfilled the radiator and/or the car's overheating and the coolihng systme is boiling internally. You don't really need a catch can...

cheers

mike