Battery Warning Light, And Low Voltage

[sc_toy]

Hey all,

I've got a slightly intermittent problem I need to diagnose. The battery light will come on, and when I check the voltage it's down in the 11.5 range. This happened last night but then magically the voltage went up and the light went out. Was getting 13.9V after that.

So last night I pulled both connections off, and wire brushed everything and clamped them down good. Also the water was down about 1.5-2.0" so I added water to the battery.

Was fine this morning until about half way into work. Light came on, and I put the voltmeter on it when I got to work and again it was sitting at around 11.5V. Now it's 2:00 and I just tried it and again the same thing.

When I shut the car off the sitting voltage climbs up to about 12.5V.

I may buy an optima yellow top and try it out, but the fact that it was intermittent makes me suspect either wiring or the alt. Though I haven't got the usual lights that go on when the alt goes. I'll try a new battery and then maybe a couple new ground cables but I was hoping for a little insight if anyone has gone through the same thing.

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

[JDOwen2]

Have your alternator tested.

[Dere2000]

I am about 99% sure that the alternator is not charging the battery sufficiently. This does not mean the alternator is bad check the posotive connection on the alternator make sure it is not arching over to something else around it. But I do not think that buying a new battery will help, thats not the problem.

[sc_toy]

Thanks. Yeah I called around. Lexus wants $966 CDN for a new alternator. That's funny. The Camry alt is $300 and it's not much smaller.

Anyway because the car was so far from my house, and I don't have any tools at work. I found a guy that'll R&R it and rebuild, rebrush it for $200 CDN. I told him to check all the connections first.

I hate leaving my car with a mechanic, this is the first time in about 4 years that I've used a mechanic for anything. That's why I invest in tools.

Oh well.... we'll see.

Cheers,

Aaron

[SKperformance]

another though would be to change the wires to the battery and main gorunds as i had similar problems with mine until i changed them

[sc_toy]

Update:

The guy I took it to turned out to be good and compitent. He rebuilt it this afternoon for $150 (including R&R) CDN, said that it was oily and that was the main problem. Also said the last guy that rebuilt it didn't put the rubber seal on one end.

So I've had the PS seal kit at home for a while, I'm going to rebuild my pump next weekend to keep it from happening again.

He also tested my battery and said it was good (even though it was low on water the other night), so maybe I can hold off on a new one for now. Anyway he really came through for me so I'm going to start giving him business from my work. If anyone in the Hamilton/Toronto area is interested I'll forward you his name/number.

Cheers,

Aaron