[ikn0waguy]

So last two days I have had my charging system light on. When I research it’s says that’s my alternator gone bad. It ran for about 30 mins after that light and started today and drove about 9 mins down the road before shutting off while idling. Jump started battery to get home and while driving ABS, VSA, check brake lights all were flashing on and off along with the radio and rpm needle hitting zero. While I was parked at home while idling everything shut off but then with a little rev things would come in and off-ish. I have a video of what it was doing. Trying to get opinions as I don’t have a lot of money to be changing multiple things just to troubleshoot.

 

[Litespeed08]

It appears like your battery is discharging because the battery is not being charged or the battery is not holding a charge. That's why all your lights are lighting up. So as you drive, at low rpm, your battery is discharging until, it gets too low and more lights come on. When you rev your engine, the battery charges due to the high rpm which produces a higher voltage.

If this is the case there are several areas to check.
1. Check that your serpentine belt is not damaged or too loose when your engine is turned off. A loose or damaged belt won't always charge at idle or low rpm but will when you rev up. Check the position of your wear indicator(arrow) on your idler pulley, your belt may have stretched.
2. Check the alternator output voltage to your battery at idle. It should be at least 13.6 volts. If not (much lower) then have the charging system checked at a major auto parts store or by a mechanic.

 

[merlinj79]

Yes sounds exactly like the alternator. As Litespeed said, check the voltage.

But first I'd check your battery terminals, make sure they're clean and tight and corrosion free. Also check the ground cables, you can easily get to two of them. Then pull back the rubber boot on the alternator power terminal and check that it's nut is on tight **** CAUTION: disconnect the negative battery terminal before you put a tool on the alternator terminal, that boot is there for a reason. Also I'd unplug the multi-pin connector to the alternator, and plug it back in just to re-seat it.


Then check the voltage at the battery terminals.....

With car off it should be at least 12.0V, although it could be less if your battery is drained.

Start the engine and check again, you're looking for a noticeable increase in voltage, ideally about 14V.

If the alternator is dead you'll probably actually see a voltage drop, to maybe 11 or 10V with the engine on since the battery is powering the ECM and ignition instead of the alternator.

You can probably get away with driving short distances by fully charging the battery overnight, as the battery can run the ignition system for a while as you've seen. Turn off all lights, radio, A/C / heater to save power. You could probably drive a few miles to work, shut the car off and still be able to start it and drive home again. Probably. Not at night, because the lights will kill the battery. This is not ideal, as it's hard on the battery to deep cycle it.

If you need a little time, you can try tapping on the alternator metal frame a few times with a hammer, that might jar it back to life for a few miles. Don't do that unless you already know the alternator is bad, per the voltage test.