man, i was driving my '88 900s and the battery light turned on. after about five minutes of it being on, my stereo turned off, then i turned off my lights and the stereo display came on but no sound, then it turned off. as i got home safely, after i turned off the car, i tried to turn it back on, and all that happened was the dashboard lights turned on, thats it. so is it an alternater problem or is there some crazy connection problem happening. i appreciate you reading this.

-- jasper r k berg (repsaj03@yahoo.com), March 12, 2002

Answers

I don't know if this is your problem but I had a similar thing happen, after much puzzling I discovered that one of my speaker terminals had been bent and the speaker was shorting out. The only clue I had was the weird behaviour of my CD player and a flat battery.

My battery light accasionally comes on when the alternator apparently fails but I have found that if I thump the alternator housing with a hammer a few times to jar it while it's running (ok, a bit rough)and maybe rev the engine it seems to free up whatever is inside and it works again fine. Thise fix lasts 6 - 12 mnths and has always worked.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Daryl Talbot

PS I have an '84 900 Turbo

-- Daryl Talbot (DarylTalbot@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

never strike or hammer on an alternator,bad juju.aluminium casting is very brittle if your case[alum. casting] is broken it will have no core value. it is likely carbon dust or underhood dirt has filled the brush holder causing the brush to lose its electrical contact on the rotor auto zone and many other part stores will check and charge a battery for free . once you have established your batt. is good and fully charged your car will start and run for a short time even if your alt. has no output. now auto zone or your fav part store can check your alt while it is in your car . if after charging your car wont start follow the diag. steps in a hain repair manuel or call a reputable shop close to home said shop may have or recomend a wrecker to transport your car. p.s. comming from only employee of alt-star auto electric 1035a n.e. washington blvd. bartlesville,ok.74006 [918] 333 0897 if i can help call

-- brian buck (buck81570@wmconnect.com), December 27, 2002.