Battery light on on 04 crossfire coupe

 

The charging system warning light (battery icon) would indicate a malfunction in the charging system. So this could be the battery itself, the alternator, or the accessory drive belt. If it's the accessory drive belt, you should be able to see it defective when you raise the hood & inspect (you don't need the car running to do this). A broken accessory belt is serious since it also drives the water pump. So if the accessory drive belt is broken the water pump is not running & you could overheat the engine and cause major damage. When this charging system warning light came on, were you driving the car? If it was the belt, your power steering should have gone away since the belt drives that pump also.

All other issues within the charging system can be checked out using a multi-meter. Another indicator of the problem is to see what OBD code(s) were triggered. If your accessory drive belt is intact, go to the nearest generic parts store & have them scan the OBD for codes generated. Write down any codes they find & get back to us. It will help us greatly in providing advice on what is wrong & how to correct the problem.

Let us know what you find out.

 

Does the battery light turn on as soon as the car is running or is it only at higher RPM's? Dedwards mentions a couple of good things to check out first. If everything seems to be okay and you cannot find any signs of fault (battery test OK, alternator is putting out at least 13.5V when running, no corrosion on connections, etc), I would check the brushes on the alternator. I have had them wear down twice on me since I bought the car. The first time left me stranded in VA while I was driving from NJ to NC in the about 3am in the morning. The second time was a little more forgiving and the battery light only came on at high RPM's giving me some warning and letting me get home before I had any major issues. If you pull your alternator out and remove the regulator/brush assembly out of the back and find they look worn like these, I would definitely at least replace the brushes. The last time I ended up replacing the entire alternator because the bearing was starting to make a whining sound.

Something else worth noting, both times when the brushes went bad, I had the alternator tested and it passed both times. Im not sure if its the road vibration that causing the brushes to jump or not but I definitely did find that interesting. Both failures were about 50K apart.

Also pay attention to if you have the Valeo or Bosch alternator if you decide to replace it. I am not 100% sure but I have heard of some stories about cross compatibility issues. I have the Valeo alternator and have never tried to install the Bosch myself

 

Replaced alternator and drove around town for hour and no battery light!!! The warranty was good on alternator since I had my replaced it Nov 2018. However, I do not want to replace alternator often so anything else I need to check ??? Thanks for your help!!!

 

I replaced my alternator in June of 2015. In October of 2015, the new one died. I got another under warranty - it's been fine ever since.
Keep in mind "new" alternators these days are generally 'rebuilt', not really new. They fail - thats the reason the warranty is so important.

 

Yeah, the brushes wear down so easily on these, i have heard people changing them just as preventative maintenance every couple years. My latest one was a brand new one off Amazon directly from Valeos store. Well see how long this one lasts