All lights go dim to bright, bright to dim
Asked by Guru2WKMJ Feb 17, 2024 at 06:36 PM about the 2002 Ford Taurus SE
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Car died, attached jumper cables & started, removed neg cable & engine died.
Installed a charged battery & eng would stay running. Checked voltage output
and no reading. Replaced alternator(first new alt was bad) & now with lights &
heater on lights go from bright to dim continousley
3 Answers
Voltage regulator is bad.
Buy a new, not rebuilt or remanufactured, alternator. You'll have better luck. A rebuilt alternator gets cleaned, only the bad parts replaced, put back together, and sold to you. So it's very common to get a defective one right out of the box. Also, since your battery was completely dead, recharge it or, if it's more than 3 years old, replace it. The alternator is not designed to recharge a completely dead battery. Hope that helps! Jim
Cheapo alternators are never a good choice. Best buying new brand name. What you're experiencing is either a bad alternator or bad regulator in the alternator. You are now ready for round #3.
