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Bad Battery or Alternator?

I have a 97 Mustang and the other night I was driving home with my wife and she says, " Honey whats wrong with your clock? The last digit is fading." So I look over and sure enough it is. Then within a minute or so all the lights on the dash are fading out. Then the engine sounded like it tried to die, but that could be because I was wondering what the heck was going on and missed the shift or something. So I took the battery out and hauled it to the nearest shop and had them check it. They said it was good but needed to be charged. I went ahead and changed the battery because its been about 3 years since the last time I had a new one put in. Then I crank it and and check the battery indicator on the dash. I think it goes like

8 NORMAL 18

and the indicator is about center of the O. I understand thats in the acceptable range according to the gauge but I cant for the life of me remember where it was before all this. It seems like a little on the low side maybe? Is there anyway to tell whether or not it was a battery giving up the ghost or the alternator not charging like it should before the car dies and im stuck somewhere inconvienent?

Jon E.

Reply to
Jon E.
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Sounds like an alternator problem. Take it to a reputable shop and having the charging system checked with an analyser.

Dave

Reply to
Mustang GT

I'd take it to a local Autozone or qualified mechanic & ask them to check the alternator.. but so you know my battery is usually on the O or R (of NORMAL) and I just put in a new alternator. 98 mustang gt.

-Mike

Reply to
memsetpc

Were the battery posts badly corroded? When you removed the battery did you clean the posts? Loose connections maybe? If you have access to a voltmeter, check the voltage while the car is running. It should be in the

13.5v range if the alternator is doing its job. It also might be something intermittent...have it checked if unsure, like you say those things have a habbit of recurring when the time is not right...

Hope this helps

Serge

Reply to
Serge

If your driving and the lights are getting dim, the alternator is not doing its job. It is supposed to run all the accessories and charge the battery while the engine is running. The alternator or some part of the electrical system is not functioning properly.

John

Reply to
jriegle

Ok I had the battery replaced because it was about time any and then my wife took the car in and had the alternator checked while I was at work and they said that was fine too.The mentioned something about a fuse that sometimes goes out in mustangs adn said I'd have to take it to a shop to have it checked. What fuse could they be talking about? Is it not something that I can just pop out of the fuse box and see if it burned out?

Jon

Reply to
Jon E.

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