electrical issues

1995 LINCOLN MARK VIII
184,000 MILES
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JESTERJAMES7
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
My battery light was fading in and out and on my way home it started to loose power and acted like it wanted to die. I turned the car off and when i tried to turn it back on it wouldn't start. I went back out about an hour later and it started right up with no problems. What's wrong?
Apr 29, 2013 at 10:33 PM
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CARADIODOC
  • ✓ASE Certified Mechanic
  • 34,321 POSTS
  • ASE Certified Mechanic
The battery light was telling you the generator was not recharging it and it was going dead. The loss of power was the result. Much of the battery's charge is stored deep within the plates, and it migrated out while the engine was off. That's why you were able to start the engine later.

If the battery light was off later you have an intermittent problem that was not acting up at that time. That is commonly caused by worn brushes in the generator. They can be replaced as part of the voltage regulator bolted to the back of the generator, but most people just replace the whole unit.
Apr 29, 2013 at 11:06 PM
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