Battery light goes on and off

[ProggerPete]

Hi all,
On my VN Commodore the battery light occassionally comes on. It isn't on for long, usually not more than a minute or so. The battery is about 18 months old. My query is whether anything other than low battery charge can cause the battery light to come on. ie. could it be a problem with the alternator or something else.

Doesn't seem to be causing any problems, I just don't like red lights coming up on my dashboard.

[stockvp]

probly alternator

[michaelw]

I'd put money on the regulator on the alternator. It is the black plastic bit on the alternator. It has brushes that attach to the slip rings. Do a search on this site for 'regulator'. They cost about $50.

Mike

[hako]

I reckon michaelw is spot on - the brushes wear down so they no longer make contact with the sliprings. You can solder new brushes in but the easiest is to buy the regulator with brushes - just costs more. Probably don't even need to remove the alternator to remove the 2 screws holding it in.

[jdd]

More than likely it will be the regulator itself, not the bushes.
It’s very common for them to fail in the manner described.

[2greedy]

i'm having the same problem so looks like regulator? cool at least thats cheaper than alternator.

[cd1]

yeah i have the same problem but i notice it didn't do it for a while until last weekend when i pressure cleaned the engine bay, so maybe someone can figure out where the water is sitting and creating a short.

[holden-4-life]

mine used to do the same thing.
seemed to go away after i changed the ECU but that was a different problem...

[azzfox]

Good grave dig! But Ive seen better.

On a lighter note, I had that problem. One night driving home the headlights went extremely bright at the same time the battery light came on, almost like high beams. Swapped regulator, nope, problem still there. Then one morning the battery was dead. Tried jump starting it but the engine would die as soon as you took the jumper leads off. New alternator and problem solved.

[Noy]

Not sure if its been said yet, but have you checked the connection from the alternator to the positive battery terminal? My connection was loose from the battery, and wasnt charging the battery all the time.

If its loose, it will cause the battery light to come on and off.

[holden-4-life]

haha i didnt even know that it was a 3 yr old thread till u said that ahah