Battery light on

[bigbadyfz]

A couple of weeks ago the battery light went on. At first it would go on for a little while and eventually go off but now is staying on pretty much all the time. Took it to AutoZone and had it tested and they told me it was just a bad connection at the battery so I bought a cleaning kit and cleaned both batteries really good but it didin't help, light still on. Guessing is the alternator going out. BTW, these are 9 month old batteries. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

[Dvldog458]

Yeah, Mine did the same thing....turned out to be a failing alt.

[Lifsvr7]

mine seems to be that lil green "L" connector on back.. when its on try putting pressure on it on one side or another, also there is a bolt inside that piece too... there is also a connection inside the alt, that has known to heat and break or something... mine has a bungie on it right now until I take the alt back to the guy for that stupid connection

[bigbadyfz]

Originally Posted by Dvldog458

Yeah, Mine did the same thing....turned out to be a failing alt.

How much did that set you back? Is it difficult to replace. I like to wrench my own toys so if it's not too bad I can do it myself.

[walleyecat]

mine light came on and went off ,and started running rough and finally led to a no-start condition. (getting her fixed now hopefully).

[taskforcefreddy]

Changing out the alternator is not difficult. Hardest part is getting the belt back over the wheel when re-installing as there's a lot of tension on this belt.

[bigbadyfz]

Originally Posted by taskforcefreddy

Changing out the alternator is not difficult. Hardest part is getting the belt back over the wheel when re-installing as there's a lot of tension on this belt.

Is there a pulley I need to loosen up before removing the belt? I was just looking at it and don't seem to find anything I can loosen so there is slack on the belt. Do I just muscle the belt over the pulley? Doesn't seem the right way of doing it but if there is no other way... Don't want to damage the belt. Speaking of the belt, how many miles should it be replaced? I have 60K on mine but it looks OK.

[taskforcefreddy]

I personally just horsed the thing back up over the new alternator pully but here's a link and a pic of what 'right' looks like.

Serpentine belt replacement, the easy way (Single Alt)

[bigbadyfz]

[QUOTE=taskforcefreddy;2592260]I personally just horsed the thing back up over the new alternator pully but here's a link and a pic of what 'right' looks like.

So I took the alternator off and had it tested as Auto Zone and it passed the test twice so now I'm thinking it may be just the belt needs replacement so I bought a new belt. Taking off the old one wasn't too bad but putting on the new one has been a bit of a challenge. I'm pretty good wrenching on my own toys but having serious problems putting this belt back on. Seriously considering towing it to the shop and having it done. Any tips or better yet pics on how to re-install this danm belt? Any help would be great.

[taskforcefreddy]

Now I'm confused... how are they going to do a proper load test with the alternator out of the truck? I guess it's possible but the easier thing to do would've been to simply drive over and let them do their thing.

Having said that, I don't think replacing a belt is going to make your system perform better unless the belt is absolutely shot and you would be noticing other aspects suffering too like poor AC and power steering.

Be that as it may, you already pulled it out. I've never reinstalled a belt so I probably can't be of much use however the search button near top left portion of this window ("Google Custom Search") works excellent. Type in belt replacement or something like that and you'll find everything you need.