This is the 2nd time in 2 months I've gotten this message. The 1st time I got it, I cleaned the battery terminals really good and the message went away until today. Today I got the message and I cleaned all of the terminals and the ground connections as well. I even went out and bought a new battery. I put everything back together and I still get the message, BATTERY NO CHARGE.

Just a year ago, I put in a new alternator so I don't think that could be the problem. I also recently installed within 6 months, a new compressor, new idling pulley and new powersteering pump and pulley.

The only thing I can think that it may be is that my little small bracket for the A/C compressor cracked in one of the bolt hole places but I didn't think that would make much of a difference being that there are 3 strong bolting mounts under the wheel well and 2 other good mounts on the other bracket. But I notice that my compressor won't kick on the A/C until you speed up the car with the gas pedal.

ANY IDEAS?

What kind of alternator did you put in? Was it a cheapo aftermarket one? I betcha used one that wasn't very good and its shot already...I've gone through a lot of alternators in a year or two before I realized i needed to buy a good quality one...if not that, then I dunno, maybe someone else will be more helpful!

Check your cables for tightness and corrosion. However when I got the "BATTERY NO CHARGE" message it was time for a new alternator and idler pulley.

UPDATE*****

I took the car out for a ride and it still had the BATTERY NO CHARGE message. At one point, however, the message went away for about 2 miles or so then it came back on and stayed on. When I'd speed the car up, the RPMs would jump up fast and then I began getting the message, "BATTERY VOLTS LOW". Right when I pulled the car into the driveway, the instrument panel went totally black and I turned her off. I tried to restart the car but it wouldn't turn over. I then turned the key to the on position and looked at the voltage reading on the cluster and it was at 10 volts and the highest that I could get it to climb was 11.3 volts.

I did buy the alternator at Autozone but I bought it back in March of this year. The guy told me I could bring the entire car in and he could test the alternator while it was on the car so I think I'll give that a try.

Has anyone ever heard of an alternator going out in 5 months though?

Remanufactured...yes. It has happened to me on my 72 Olds.

Yes...like I said, I went through several of them in one year...less than five months is quite possible, if its one of the cheapo ones...

Well, I bought another alternator from Autozone. I bought it from there again only becuase I have lifetime warranty on it. It sounds like a good deal, initially, but not after you factor in the hard work it takes to change one of these things out in the STS model. This is by far, the worst job that I hate doing on my car. Those bolts are just so difficult to get to and you must take out so many other things to get in there. Hopefully, however, my 2nd time will go a little smoother than my first.

I'll let you guys know if this was really the culprit.

Autozone's parts are cheap for a reason. Aside from probably being assembled by Chineese 10 yr olds, they have to cut corners somewhere to make the parts cheap. I would only but "dumb" parts from Autozone ie: oil, filters, coolant, wiper blades, etc. I'd get an OEM A/C Delco alternator.

I want to ask you guys if my A/C compressor bracket being broken in one spot could have caused the alternator to burn out early. The little bracket made of puter on the inside that holds on the compressor with 3 bolts had broken where the lower bolt goes. I still installed the bracket with the break on but you can hear and feel the vibration when you accelerate quickly when making left turns.

I'm wondering if with that bracket broken if the serpentine belt has to work much harder if the compressor is not fully level.

I have the new bracket in but it is truly a bastard to change that bracket, being the you must take off the oil filter unbolt the compressor and pull it out a bit, and take the A/C lines off the compressor... all the while with the oil dripping in your eyes (wish I had a lift).

My guess would be no.

if its causing the belt to run a little crooked or something, maybe...I dunno, but probably, as ranger said, that'd be a no.

I'm about to start my alternator removal and installation procedure this morning but I wanted to ask a question about a fuse. In my Helm's repair manual, the troubleshooting page says to first check for any inline fuses that may be bad or soft and melted. Are there any inline fuses on the '95 STS or any fuse at all that I could check on?

I think they may be talking about "fusable links".