You have just replaced your alternator and battery Now all of your warning lights on your instrument panel will not turn off your car is a 1997 Sunfire How do these lights go off while driving?

Answer 1

Your question said all of your warning lights were coming on, and that you had just replaced the battery and alternator. Instrument panel lights come on when the car's system voltage is very low (around 10 volts or less). Since you have just replaced your alternator and you report these symptoms, I suspect that the alternator is not functioning, even though it is a new one. If your car has a voltmeter built in, start the engine, let it idle, and observe what the gauge says. It should read midscale, and there is usually a "13" or a "14" printed on it. The pointer should be somewhere near there. If your car does not have a voltmeter, you can check the car's volts this way: 1. If you have a volt meter (a "Multimeter" that you can buy in most any hardware store for under $20), set it to "15 VDC" or "20 VDC" or whatever scale is a little larger than "14" because 14 is the voltage you want to measure. 2. Now plug the red test lead into the red connection on the meter, and the black one to black. 3. Next, with the engine off, connect the other end of the red test lead to the + (red) terminal on the battery (or a red wire's connection, nearby) and the black test lead to the car's metal frame or the negative battery terminal or to a metal engine part. You should get a reading of around 12 volts if the battery is charged, and maybe a little lower if it isn't. Remember what this reading is. 4. Now (be careful that the test leads or your necktie, etc. do not get caught in the fan or any moving engine parts) start the engine, let it idle, and make the same reading again (on the voltmeter). It should read 14 volts or at least more than it did in the previous step. 5. If you read the same or lower voltage, then the alternator is not producing electrical power for you. Perhaps the wires were not all connected back up properly. Remember there are several of them on the alternator -- not just the big red one. Also check the belt--is it in place and spinning the alternator as it should? Or, perhaps the alternator is defective.