I guess the problem really started in June. We get back to the van after watching a baseball game and it is dead. Get a friend to come give us a jump and we make it home. Use my battery charger to charge the battery and once charged I test the alternator with the charger and it says it is ok. I replace the battery and all seems fine till about a week ago.
Wife is out cleaning it out and listening to the radio. About 20 mins later she comes in and says the battery is dead. Charge up the battery and test the alternator. Test says it is bad. Spent last weekend changing it out along with both belts. Get it all back together and battery and parking brake light is on. Charge up the battery and lights are still on. Leave alone for a few hours and go to start and it just clicks. Put old battery from June back in (still had it) and it starts right up. Lights eventually go out and I think new battery is bad. Go back out to test a few hours later and lights are back on. Take for a drive and eventually lights go off. Check again a few hours later (around dusk) and this time the lights are back on again. Go out for a drive and it is dark enough out to notice the lights aren't turning off completely but they are just flickering.
Tonight I get a new battery and with fingers crossed install it. Lights are still on. Charge the battery to full but still, lights are on when you start it up. They will go off or fade in and out eventually like before when driving. I noticed around 45mph is when the lights will go out but as soon as you get off the gas or go to brake, the lights start fading and flickering. Along with this I have
1. Checked the belt tightness... can't see how it can get any tighter as the pulley gets out of alignment
2. Checked the ground on the alternator to make sure it was tight.
3. Check the Mass Meter fuse to see if blown
4. Checked with a meter to make sure battery was outputting correct volts.
I'm at a loss here. I am now kind of hopeing Hurricane Earl takes a little more of a turn to the west because I think there will just have to be some "storm" damage. I have googled and searched here and everything says bad battery or alternator. Please help with any ideas. Thanks
Wife is out cleaning it out and listening to the radio. About 20 mins later she comes in and says the battery is dead. Charge up the battery and test the alternator. Test says it is bad. Spent last weekend changing it out along with both belts. Get it all back together and battery and parking brake light is on. Charge up the battery and lights are still on. Leave alone for a few hours and go to start and it just clicks. Put old battery from June back in (still had it) and it starts right up. Lights eventually go out and I think new battery is bad. Go back out to test a few hours later and lights are back on. Take for a drive and eventually lights go off. Check again a few hours later (around dusk) and this time the lights are back on again. Go out for a drive and it is dark enough out to notice the lights aren't turning off completely but they are just flickering.
Tonight I get a new battery and with fingers crossed install it. Lights are still on. Charge the battery to full but still, lights are on when you start it up. They will go off or fade in and out eventually like before when driving. I noticed around 45mph is when the lights will go out but as soon as you get off the gas or go to brake, the lights start fading and flickering. Along with this I have
1. Checked the belt tightness... can't see how it can get any tighter as the pulley gets out of alignment
2. Checked the ground on the alternator to make sure it was tight.
3. Check the Mass Meter fuse to see if blown
4. Checked with a meter to make sure battery was outputting correct volts.
I'm at a loss here. I am now kind of hopeing Hurricane Earl takes a little more of a turn to the west because I think there will just have to be some "storm" damage. I have googled and searched here and everything says bad battery or alternator. Please help with any ideas. Thanks