flickering battery light

[secrestwrecker]

i have a 00 250 with 125,000 miles. the battery light comes on randomly, and will flicker, go off, come back on, get brighter, etc. etc. i dont think this is a battery issue, but i could be wrong???

[dnf12908]

I'd be willing to bet it's the beginning of alternator failure. That's happened to me a few times over the years. Replaced the alt. Problem solved.

[bigcountrysg]

Originally Posted by secrestwrecker

i have a 00 250 with 125,000 miles. the battery light comes on randomly, and will flicker, go off, come back on, get brighter, etc. etc. i dont think this is a battery issue, but i could be wrong???

Alternator, wore out accessory drive belt, bad connection, dirty connection at the alternator or batteries. Check those things. Also take a volt meter and see what the output is on the alternator, if it is below 12.5 volts replace it. If it is below 13 volts then it is getting weak and you should think about replacing it. The standard out put of an alternator is 14 volts on average with an average of 100amps.

If you replace the alternator get one with life time warranty, that way if it goes out again you just take it off. Take it back to the parts store you got it from and get a new one. I like shopping at nationwide parts stores for these kind of parts that way if you are traveling and the alternator goes out you most likely will find that brand parts store near by.

[PWRSMOKE]

i had that problem when i first bought my truck...but i believe it was because they washed the engine and maybe got water on the wires causing a loose connection...it did it for about 3 days after i bought it...ive had it for about 3 months now and its never done it again

[Cj Ford]

check the conections on the alternator.. I had the same issue on my 99 F550 was the connections at the alternator..

[secrestwrecker]

well i tested my alternator with a digital volt meter, i was showing around 11.8 constant voltage. i took it to auto zone, and their meter showed a little over 13 volts at idle. the tag on the alternator shows 2/2007 as the build date, so i dont think it should be going bad with 9 months on it, but it could be a defective unit i guess.