03MCS SEE NEW INFO MY LAST POST !. Last night car was fine but this morning car cranked fine and had no issues other than battery light on below 3k rpm or so . Once I run rpms above approx 3k battery light goes out ...no power steering or any other issues . If I turn AC on high, lights on, the results are exactly the same. The light goes out at same rpm ... While I was moving the car to drive my other car (thank God) the battery light all of a sudden went out . I've load tested the battery (good)and checked alternator output 13.5 at idle . I also checked battery terminal connections and grounds at the block/frame all looks good . Any ideas welcome .

 

on multiple occasions I've had electrical ghosts haunt my MINIs and the battery would 'test' as OK

but a fresh battery would cause the ghosts to depart ...

just had the very thing on our Roadster .... service alerts popping randomly ... battery tested fine but it WAS 5 years old so I replaced it .... POOF no more random service alerts

had similar occurrences with my 02 and 07 ....

If the battery is 4 years old I'd consider this ......

 

Thank you . I believe the battety is only 2 years old but ill check for the receipt to be sure . Thats also tells me it may be a poor connection at or in the battery system so ill check that as well

 

Take the battery to AutoZone or OReilly's and have them test it for a bad cell. If it's only two years old you should have value left to trade in on a new one (if that's where you bought it).

 

Will do .. thanks

 

Today I replaced the battery which was marginal. Battery light is still on so I rechecked the voltage to see if it was getting a charge and apparently the alternator isn't charging as it read 11.8v at the battery
Yesterday I checked the voltage and it was 13.8 but the battety light at that time had gone out for some reason .
So basically the alternator is intermittently charging . Other than a loose connection at the alternator what would cause it to be intermitten ? Why is PS still working if alternator died?
.alternator was replaced about 20000mis ago ?

 

It's possible, most likely a defective alternator even though it's relatively new. (refurb or new new?) Intermittent charging is a classic failure mode.

 

Thanks. It was a rebuilt but I don't recall where i purchased it.
Any recommendation on where to get an alternator ? I found a shop locally that can rebuild for 150$

 

If the shop has a good reputation and few returns, that may be a good option. What does a rebuild include? Bearings, Diodes and brushes? Warranty?

FWIW, I went with the $180 O'Reilly autoparts option. First one lasted 2 months, second one has been on the car 3.5 years or about 25K. Lifetime warranty so if and when it poops again, down to the store I go.

 

I called the local autozone and it turns out that's where I had purchased the alternator beforr so its covered under warranty .

 

Nice, that helps you roll the dice once more! Hope the next one treats you better.

 

Alternator is in and all is good once again.

A word of caution . If your belt shreds make sure you clean out any fibres from the alternator . Looks like the reason the alt failed is due to fibers getting pulled in . It was loaded with them . Thanks for the help guys