cricket Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 my 78 wagon's "chg" idiot light stays on. the alt looks new or rebuilt. any thoughts, diagnosis, hints? anyone know how long the wagon will drive on a fully charged battery if the alt is truly shot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROGDOR! Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 Just because the alt looks good doesn't mean it is. Have it bench tested at a shop. On a battery you will notice 3 numbers... Cold Cranking Amps, Cranking Amps, and Reserve Capacity. The reserve capacity is the number, in minutes, that your battery should last with a bad alternator and minimal accessories. That is, if the battery is fully charged when the alternator dies. So... a battery with a reserve capacity of 60 should last 60 minutes with no accessories running- by the book. Don't bet the farm on it though. If I knew my alt was dead, I would only drive the car in order to get it to the quickest safe place before it totally died. Whether it be home, a friends house, an auto parts store, or in the case of my last alt failure- a church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 if I parked my red Camaro at a church, it would be burned to the ground in a matter of minutes......thats what happens when you have a license plate like mine WKJ666....we killed Jesus 666......and its not a vanity plate either:eek: it sounds like either your alternator is bad or possibly you could have a bad battery cabl;e or wire so it is not charging the battery all the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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