BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean - Third Generation Forum

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BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Saturday, June 25, 2005 6:24 PM
Short story Version, I drained t he battery today, tried boosting it,
white smoke came pouring out after about 5 sec of setting up the cables,
put in my friends used battery, everything seemed to run like normal until my brother called and said the Battery Light Came On.

What are the reasons why a battery light would show? thanks for any help



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd


Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Saturday, June 25, 2005 6:27 PM
im going crazy over this car now.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Saturday, June 25, 2005 7:55 PM
Alternators shot.



Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Saturday, June 25, 2005 9:49 PM
Im curious what you did to make white smoke... red to red, black to ground...


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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Saturday, June 25, 2005 11:21 PM
I'm curious about the smoke too. Where did it come from, the battery, or the alternator?
But, I'm gonna agree with BlackWidowCavy in that you're alternator is probably shot.
Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 4:08 PM
Well i checked my alternator voltage, im not getting much at all. Its definetly dead, getting 11.9 volts with car on. I duno, im pretty damn sure i put the cables on rite, i must of boosted at least 30 cars at work, but i duno how else this could of happened.

the alternator was kinda old tho, 7+ years old, its pully was started making noise a while ago and the belt needs to be replaced too, so i guess i would of had to replace all this stuff anyways really soon.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 4:12 PM
thanks for the help anyways guys. Would there any change of the fusible link between the bat and starter being gone too. How much would that cost if it was burnt.

how much would an new alternator run me, and where should i buy it.
Would i have to take the coolant reservoir out to get at the alternator better or what, is it a difficult job. Let me know please.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 4:40 PM
Quick question, how do you know when you have reached the belt tension when installing the belt?



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 5:20 PM
it does it automatically...



Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 6:04 PM
its stops tightening once its set?



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Sunday, June 26, 2005 8:33 PM
The belt tightens itself... one of the pullys is spring loaded... new fangled @!#$.


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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Monday, June 27, 2005 9:26 AM
My batt light came on yesterday! YEH!! and I was 2 hours from home on a highway in the middle of no-where!! got it home with a motomaster booster pack plugged into my cig. lighter.....(there's inginuity!) got a new alt. at can. tire for $179 CAN with a 5 year warr. took me 20 min. to swap it in my 96 2.4L ....did't even have to pull the intake...the last bolt doesn't have to come out, just loosen it off a bit...you can get to it between the 1st and 2nd cyl intake tube. what a job when it is 46 deg. C with the humidex!!!!


If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence you tried!
Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Monday, June 27, 2005 10:21 AM
well, i brought the car to my co-op shop i used to work at. He changed the alternator. We turned the car back on but the light was still on and the new alternator was still not charging. Then he changed the fusible link between the alt. and starter, and everything worked like a charm. BAT light turned off, the alternator was charging and he costed me only 210 with labour + i bought a 30 dollar belt from somewhere else. He gave me a great price for the work he did on the car.

I cant believe after all the jump starts i did, i would fu*k up something so simple as connecting the cables properly. I thought i did it rite, but my head must of been up my ass, i pulled an all nighter the night be4 this so i guess it costed me 240 of stupidity. Im glad the cav is ok now, i love that car to death and i want it to live as strong and healthy as it can. thanks for all the help i got, ill see yall later.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Monday, June 27, 2005 11:35 AM
that sucks. all that for a simple mistake. hey it could of been worse though. i know some kid i went to high school w/ burnt his truck to the ground because he hooked up the cables wrong when he was charing the batteries for this hydros



Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Monday, June 27, 2005 2:38 PM
It's not ever recommended by GM to jump cars anymore, they say even one jump can burn out internal regulators, or burn out fusible links.

I don't know the logistics as to why, but I got a notice at my shop in 97 about it.

Has something to do with the ECC also but I don't remember.
Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Monday, June 27, 2005 9:26 PM
To be quite honest, i don't think i connected the cables to the wrong color, i remember connecting the final cable, negative to my negative and sparks coming from the terminal (you know how if the set the black cable last, sparks fly, which u should not really connect last). I dont know what happened when i jumped the car. Im 95% sure i connected the cables to the right terminals. But i did hear that connecting the negative cable last to you car isnt really a good idea, should be before the positive. Maybe that fired it. I duno, and i never will know.

I guess @!#$ happenes sometimes, whether it was a mistake or not and
you just gota deal with it, its been dealt with now and i can move on.
peace out.



2003 Cavalier 2dr. 5spd

Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 12:14 PM
Also when hooking up a battery, try making sure you have everything off, same goes for jumping another car (make sure they have everything turned off).

Cause if you have a large draw that puts a strain on the system ( ever notice with lights acc on when hooking up a battery you see a spark jump from the post to the terminal?), that spark could cause enough surge to blow a fuse, fusible link, voltage regulator ect, ect...
Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 8:10 PM
The last wire to be connected should be the ground on the car doing the charging, and it should not be connected to the battery, due to this spark. It should be connected on a good ground point in the engine area.

And yes, everything should be off in both cars.

It also doesnt hurt to rev the engine in the car doing the charging.


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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Thursday, June 30, 2005 7:40 AM
Quote:

I duno, im pretty damn sure i put the cables on rite


Step away from your car. Red to Red, Black to Black. It doesn't get much easier than that. Change your alternator. Have your battery checked. It may have a dead cell. If so change your battery. The white smoke sounds like a different problem.



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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Thursday, June 30, 2005 1:55 PM
I normally hook it up negative to my car, positive to my car, positive to the car doing the charging, then negative to car charging, much less spark that way.



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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Thursday, June 30, 2005 6:44 PM
My jumper cables came in a pretty bag that tells you how to do it...

A) Have both vehicles off

B) Connect jumper wires in this order:
1> RED wire on stalled vehicle
2> RED wire on booster vehicle
3> BLACK wire on booster vehcile
4> BLACK wire on stalled vehicle (Connect to engine block or frame, NOT the battery)

C) Start the booster vehicle. Bringing the booster vehicle to a mid or high rev will decrease the wait time.

D) Wait 10 to 15 minutes (5 to 10 if you revved the booster vehicle)

E) Attempt starting the stalled vehicle.
- If starting failed, wait an additional 5 to 10 minutes and try again.

F) Remove cables in the reverse order they were placed


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Re: BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON, what does that mean
Tuesday, July 05, 2005 5:10 PM
R you guys kidding me???



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