Kind of a continuation of this thread http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=447570

... But, I got the oil changed recently, and just after I turned the car on after the oil change, the clock had reset and the car acted like it wasn't getting enough electricity (power steering pump whining, clock dimming if I turned the radio up).

But, since then, it's been fine.

The only thing I think would cause this would be if the alternator doesn't generate enough juice to keep the battery topped-off when idling, but this doesn't seem right to me. What else could be causing this?

This alternator is new BTW, as of about a week after the other thread was originally made (last November). AFAIK, it has an AC Delco alternator, which is suppose to be OEM, isn't it?

My guesses are that it's a random problem, or whatever caused the first alternator to go bad is causing this one to go bad, and the people who put the new one in didn't bother to troubleshoot (but the car has about 96k miles).

5/3/2007 3:58:20 AM

not random at all, i had this happen to me a couple months back... alternator wasnt but 6 months old or so and got the same things periodically, thought the same.... luckily I was at work when the alternator finally discharged the battery completely

In my car the light only came on when the battery was completely dead, not when it is not charging, so your battery will have some or enough juice to keep the car running for a long time especially if the alternator is charging a little bit but not at full capacity

my suggestion is to get it checked or you may be SOL when the battery finally dies

5/3/2007 7:53:21 AM

alternator check for free at advance/autozone

5/3/2007 8:58:05 AM

my WAG is that the oil change jockey let your battery drain(lights on with engine off). get your battery checked, replace it if its 4 years old or older anyhow.

5/3/2007 10:53:27 AM

The battery is actually new too.

hmm....

5/3/2007 5:51:48 PM