Charge Light

[AshRX]

Driving along last night noticed my charge light came on. Cause of that the oil pressure light and coolant light came on. Checked the oil and coolant all ok. The lights werent going dim at all even withthe stereo on full wack.

Parked up again as the car was running fine and noticed on the Apexi commander that the battery voltage was only 11.9 - 12 volts, its usually 14-14.1. Great only just bought a new battery.

Parked up and turned off and left it for an hour. Turned over first time, so was a bit confused. Then on way home the voltage went back up to 14v.

Any ideas? Dodgy electrics, naff battery, alternator on way out??

[jon haines]

def sounds like the charge from the alternator and not the battery, can you check the charge rate at the back of the alternator if it does it again with some load on the elecs?.if you have good(13.5-14.5V) there and only 12ish at the batt check leads to batt and earth. check belt tightness it might be loose enogh to slip but still not squeal, connections for corrosion poss/neg terminals for good tight fit and clean. good earth on the alternator and engine to chassis earth could be suspect, plenty to check before you worry about the alternator being u/s. if the charge rate to the battery is ok could be an earth problem to the guages?

[AshRX]

has been cool lately and the reading has been 14.0 - 14.5 v on the Apexi. Though it did slip down to 13.5 again on Sat. The battery is brand new and all the connectors are fine. Think it might be a dodgy alternator now

[Crispy Beef]

I\'ve recently had this same problem; the oil, coolant and charge lights being lit all the time.  I had my alternator tested and it came back ok.  One of my gauges measures voltage and this is now reading high 14s and sometime low to mid 15s.

Would this suggest that the alternator\'s voltage regulator has gone pear shaped?  Is it worth getting the alternator rebuilt or just a new one.  Everything else on the car checks out.

[jon haines]

the alternator should charge at 13.5 to 14.5 volts but can be a little higher or lower(about .5v) depending on the batt state of charge, loads switched on ect. 15 would be ok for the odd short period and would not worry about it.
i havent had the plesure of stripping an rx7 alternater but often the brush packs can be removed without any great knowlage,just a bit of common sense and a few screws - you can then check the lenth of the two brushes and see if they are dirty and could be sticking, both of which could cause irratic charge problems. if your in no rush i will have a look over the weekend and if its easy enough post instructions if you still want them.jon. p.s the gauges in cars from factory are not usaully exact anyway.

[ruffryder]

you might also wanna try and upgrade the earth cables and connectors

[leggysrx7]

sounds like alternator. I had same problem, though initially it appeared that some dirt had interfered with the contacts..alternator finally went out though..

[Crispy Beef]

the alternator should charge at 13.5 to 14.5 volts but can be a little higher or lower(about .5v) depending on the batt state of charge, loads switched on ect. 15 would be ok for the odd short period and would not worry about it.
i havent had the plesure of stripping an rx7 alternater but often the brush packs can be removed without any great knowlage,just a bit of common sense and a few screws - you can then check the lenth of the two brushes and see if they are dirty and could be sticking, both of which could cause irratic charge problems. if your in no rush i will have a look over the weekend and if its easy enough post instructions if you still want them.jon. p.s the gauges in cars from factory are not usaully exact anyway.

I had the alternator tested under load on a bench at a local battery centre and the brushes were reported as being "nearly new looking", also they said it all checked out in general which left me a little confused.  I suppose they could be wrong.  I don\'t have a problem with stripping the thing myself assuming I can get the parts; from the service manuals it doesn\'t look too bad a job.

My gauge is a Billion VFX-Max which reads a variety of things including voltage, but I\'ve also tested the alternator with a multi-meter and it consistently puts out just over 15v.

What I\'m worried about is if the alt. has a problem it\'ll eventually go and cause problems elsewhere, worth rebuilding or better to play safe and get a new one?

I noticed the belt isn\'t as tight as it should be today - just under half an inch of movement - is it possible that this could also cause any problem like this?  I\'ll tighten it up today to be sure anyway.

sounds like alternator. I had same problem, though initially it appeared that some dirt had interfered with the contacts..alternator finally went out though..

Did you find that before the alternator went the lights would flicker on the dash or were they just solidly lit?  Initially mine was flashing a bit and after taking out the alternator for testing and refitting the problem went away for a day or so, but then came back and the lights have stayed on.

you might also wanna try and upgrade the earth cables and connectors

After a recent problem I checked out a lot of earth cables, plus the car - before I had it - had a Splitfire earthing kit attached, so I guess the earthing should be ok?

[leggysrx7]

Lights flickered for one journey then the alternator gave up the ghost a couple of months later

[Crispy Beef]

Lights flickered for one journey then the alternator gave up the ghost a couple of months later

The flickering was happening for a while before the lights stayed on.  I\'ve not had much choice in using it at the moment as I need to get to work and back.

[leggysrx7]

not sure how much i paid 4 a new one, wasnt that expensive