I would have posted this in my original starter thread, but I couldn't find it. So, I did have the starter replaced and my no-start issues disappeared. That was two weeks ago. The alternator was replaced about 3 months ago. I know it was the second replacement in 6 months. Well, my rover wouldn't start last night when I was three hours away, camping with my kiddos...Here's the rundown:

The battery will not charge or at least it will not stay charged. I have to get a jump to start it every time and have really low power. It dies eventually when I start driving. Even turning the blinker on kills it. The RPM needle stopped working a few weeks ago, too. When I turn on my blinker, it almost dies and the speedometer needle quits working. The interior panel lights, speedometer, tachometer, etc... go absolutely bonkers.

The only other thing I've ever noticed, is that since the first day I had it, the little green tow light at the top of the panel will illuminate briefly when I turn on my brights.

Also, I bought a mulitmeter but have never used one...not sure what to do exactly...Any help is ALWAYS appreciated

 

Your alternator is toast and you are running off of battery power alone.
Getting a jump start puts a little juice into your battery, enough for the engine to run but once you start drawing more power it runs out faster and the engine quits.

 

What would cause the alternator to go bad so quickly? It's the second one (from Auto Zone) in 6 months.

 

That.


I went though 4 in 2 years, finally settled on a used one, the used one lasted longer than all 4 of theirs combined.
When that one died I bought a brand new one off of e-bay from Crank-N-Charge, for a 1995 Range Rover Classic, $150 shipped, 120amps, DI alt is only 100amp.
So far so good but it has only been a few months.

 

I knew "that" was coming. Haha. Their lifetime warranty isn't worth it...

 

No their lifetime warranty is not worth it, I can change my alt in under 15 min I've done it so many times.
My first AutoZone alt lasted a year, 2nd one 3 months and it went out on a family trip to *******, it dies halfway there, we finished the drive on the battery alone.
I then changed it using my SwissArmy knife and a 1/4" socket set from the dollar store.
Returned it to AutoZone in ******* and bought one from AdvancedAuto, that one lasted 6 months.
Exchanged it, bought a used one just to have, the 4th one lasted about 3 months and died on the return trip from Texas, changed it in a church parking lot in Norman OK again using my pocket knife and a cheap socket set, installed the used one, returned the AdvanceAuto one for a full refund.
All of the autoparts stores use the same rebuilder for import alternators and starters, they just put them in different boxes and they only replace what is bad when it comes into their rebuilding shop.
There is a place in Coopersville that is supposed to be the best rebuilder of alternators and starters and other electric motors, they will not BS you and they can rebuild anything.
Adema Alternator & Starter Service
All of the farmers use them to rebuild alts and starters for their tractors.
616-837-8169
I am going to have them rebuild my used alt that I bought that died.

 

You have a couple options right now, put your truck on the battery charger and let it charge all night, take the charger and extension cord to work with you, plug it back in at work, plug it back in at home.
I had to do this one December when I was having alt problems and working 7 days a week.
I dont know what your budget situation is like, I have a alt you can borrow if you need to return your AutoZone one and use that money to order a new one.

 

X2 on all above. The mass rebuilders are controlled by bean counterz, and to squeeze the nickle so the buffalo jumps they buy parts from the same place Uncle Sam gets his money, that would be China. The electronic module (regulator and diodes) usually fails, and I suspect that it is heat related. May work fine in air conditioned research lab. But the shroud of the rad fan on a D1 is designed to blast air into the alternator, and the radiator is running hot to begin with. If electronic parts were not high temp spec to begin with, and if cheap assembly work skipped something, like the white heat conductive grease to mount some electronic components, MTBF (mean time between failure) will be reduced.

Driving with that battery light "on" is a short term practice. But it can be repeated day after day with recharge for months. Electric forklifts do it every day, their batteries, plus golf carts and marine trolling motor batteries are designed for deep discharge cycles for years of operation.

 

I got a lifetime warranty on my oil pressure switch from Autozone. Now that's what I call worth it! Anything else......nah.

 

Don't neglect your battery and alternator connections also, they are likely corroded. Search for threads started by me about cables to get an idea of what to look for.