Amp light

[mikeroc283]

I had the car running earlier for maybe 2 minutes and the amp light came on. I left the house at 7 and came home at around 9. I left the battery connected while i was gone and went out around 1145 and absolutely no power at all and the battery was fully charged earlier. What would cause this? Im thinking a short somewhere. Any thoughts?

[zoomie]

sounds like bad alternator crapped out but thats just an educated guess

[mikeroc283]

That was the original thought that the alternator was dead. But i have a large cased 3g alternator to do the swap with. I just dont wanna mess with the 3g untill i know i wont mess it up.

[gabegt90]

mike you said the fuse link burned. check in the alt harness for a fuse link replace that and see what happens

[mikeroc283]

Nothin burned that i know of. I hear a buzz noise from around the dash when i have stuff going. like lowering or raising the windows i get no power from the battery after charging 4 hours and the lights clock and radio shut off, then i get full power back. What would cause that?

[gadget73]

Bad battery connections, bad ignition switch. Check the cables at the battery first, they tend to get crusty, and the wire inside the jacket will turn green sometimes. Bend them around a bit, if they crunch its probably time for new. Ignition switch is a good idea to replace if yours is original. They're known to start fires and cause all sorts of problems when they get intermittant.

[87_crown_vic]

had similar situation... tried 2 different alternators and swapped in extra battery... the car would still act bad especially at night. i changed the ground line to the battery and no problem since.

[mikeroc283]

Lately i only sit in the car and listen to the radio with my friends. Not much i can do as of right now. If i have to buy parts though i have $20 on my autozone rewards card so im fine for anything under $20.

[85crownHPP]

You might not even need to spend any money! like suggested start with the connections... wire brush the battery and solenoid posts, including the insides of the cable clamps. A bad connection there commonly makes power die when you turn the key, even though the radios and lights are working. The big load of trying the start the motor makes the poor connection give up, even with a fully charged battery.
Ive had people tow cars into the shop before, just to twist the battery post clamp around a bit and start the car right up. It happens fairly often...