[Isambard]

Hey guys,

Wondering if someone could help me sort an issue. My alternator recently stopped charging my battery and I pulled and tested it and it passed. The wires and connections under the hood seem good.

Recently I had the gauge cluster out to fix a speedometer squeak and I think this may have caused the issue I'm having with the alternator not charging. Does anyone know if it's a connector to the gauge cluster itself or the gauge cluster bezel (for the headlights and hazards) that controls the connection to the alt? I'd assume the cluster itself since it's a bulb that opens the circuit?

The reason I ask is because when putting the bezel back on one of the clips for a connection to the bottom of the bezel snapped on me and it isn't a very firm connection and I have no clue what the 3 wires go to (It's the connection on the right, below the wiring harness for the hazards). Or is it a bulb in the cluster?

Also my hazard switch doesn't work now either. Related issue?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Further info. I also don't have a battery light showing up while the car is running but the bulb does work when I have the ignition on (if this indicates a bad alt or not I have no clue) and the only two issues I see are the alternator not charging and the hazards not working. Headlights, blinkers, wipers, and dash lights all seem to work properly.

[Stdyhand]

Did you get the battery checked also? Rather than the alternator not charging, perhaps it's the battery not taking the charge. If it isn't the battery then I would suspect an open circuit somewhere. Get the battery fully charged and do a test to see how much drain is on the battery. This should tell you if a circuit is open. If there's not then it's something between the alt-battery.

[Stevo077]

Check your fusible links too.

[Isambard]

Battery is almost brand new and holds a charge. I'm getting 12.6v at the posts but it gets a steady drain while the engine is running. Holds a charge fine otherwise, which rules out a phantom drain.

I'll check the links this afternoon but I'm thinking it's the resistor in the cluster since I had to take apart the dash and immediately after reinstalling it I started having alt problems.

[Isambard]

Solved the problem once I got home. As I thought the culprit was in the dash. The bulb and resistor in the gauge cluster were fine but the connection harness under the speedometer wasn't plugged in correctly. The cluster is so old the plastic backing was pulling out and two copper lines lead from the harness to the rest of the cluster, causing the alt indicator bulb not to get power.

I put a little glue on the backside of the plastic and it's held down enough to where I feel comfortable until I get a new cluster.

So there ya go, if you were all wondering which wiring plug it is on the gauge it's the one under the speedo

Annoying but glad it didn't' cost anything to fix.