Battery warning light

BATTERY

MEMBER
MAZDA PROTEGE

I have a 1999 Mazda Protege DX with 108,000 miles. My battery warning light came on two weeks ago. I went to Autozone to get it checked out and they said everything was fine. So, I ignored the light. Well, my car died the following week. I got a friend to change out the alternator to a new one and the light disappeared. The week after, the light came on and the car died. I had the battery checked and they said it was dead. I replaced the battery and my car started working again. However, my battery warning light is still on. I went to Autozone to get it checked just in case the alternator went bad on me. They said that the alternator and battery were fine. I looked at the belts and everything looks fine. Am I missing something? Do I need to reset the light somehow or will it disappear after a while? I don't want to ignore the light and then have the car die on me again.

2 Replies

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

Don't ignore it. You'll get burned. Get your money back for the faulty alternater and get a good one. Worldwide, bosch, USA are decent alternaters. Autozone. Is quality challenged. IMHO.

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Sunday, November 11th, 2007 AT 5:43 PM

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Sounds to me that the PCM is not controlling the field winding generation. Instead of dropping the resistances to increase the voltage-its increasing it to lower the voltage. Low voltage is equal to low current output from the alternator.

The vehicle is not meeting its electrical demands.