]New to Forum..
Inherited 98 Eldorado with 4.6 Northstar. 66 k miles. Florida car till this year. Now it lives in upstate NY. Car is perfect running condition looks great. Sleeps in a non- heated garage. This winter, when cold, "system not charging" lite illuminates until
the engines reaches normal operating temperature, then it charges at 14.2 volts for the rest of the day. Problem is, car goes on very short trips to work and then home ( only 8 minutes each way). Never gets a chance to really charge. Killed a battery of course. Put a new battery in it and have it on float charger now at night while sleeping. Before I start
tearing into the engine to replace the water cooled alternator ( which I hear may not solve the problem), does this
sound like something simpler? Like a bad thermistor between the positive cable and alternator. I am happy to float charge it a night indefinitely if that is easiest solution. Thanks in advance !
Eric
......have a 98 Eldorado Florida car with 66k on it - now it lives in cold upstate NY. This winter (first winter), when cold, "system not charging" warning indicator is on and draining the battery. Once engine warms up - all is fine for the rest of the day. I have a float charger on it at night now while it sleeps in a cold garage. Problem is, my drive to work is 8 minutes - so it never gets a good charge and then sits all day. The alternator is water cooled. Is this something I should just deal with versus getting a new alternator and risking a lot of time and heartache which may not fix the problem.
Thanks
ERic
Inherited 98 Eldorado with 4.6 Northstar. 66 k miles. Florida car till this year. Now it lives in upstate NY. Car is perfect running condition looks great. Sleeps in a non- heated garage. This winter, when cold, "system not charging" lite illuminates until
the engines reaches normal operating temperature, then it charges at 14.2 volts for the rest of the day. Problem is, car goes on very short trips to work and then home ( only 8 minutes each way). Never gets a chance to really charge. Killed a battery of course. Put a new battery in it and have it on float charger now at night while sleeping. Before I start
tearing into the engine to replace the water cooled alternator ( which I hear may not solve the problem), does this
sound like something simpler? Like a bad thermistor between the positive cable and alternator. I am happy to float charge it a night indefinitely if that is easiest solution. Thanks in advance !
Eric
......have a 98 Eldorado Florida car with 66k on it - now it lives in cold upstate NY. This winter (first winter), when cold, "system not charging" warning indicator is on and draining the battery. Once engine warms up - all is fine for the rest of the day. I have a float charger on it at night now while it sleeps in a cold garage. Problem is, my drive to work is 8 minutes - so it never gets a good charge and then sits all day. The alternator is water cooled. Is this something I should just deal with versus getting a new alternator and risking a lot of time and heartache which may not fix the problem.
Thanks
ERic