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"Battery No Charge"


newbold1

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1996 SLS - 110,000 miles

2 Year Old Sears Diehard Gold Battery

2 Year Old Drive Belt

Original Alternator

Original Voltage Regulator

I am getting a "Battery No Charge" on the DIC and code IP1911 shows up in history. This usually occurs right after start-up and lasts from just a few minutes to nearly 15 minutes and then the warning disappears. I cannot get the DIC to show me the Volts while the DIC warning is shown as the INFO button won't let me switch to see anything else. However, after the warning finally goes away, I can then see the volts and it appears that at idle its anywhere from 11.0 to 12.7 volts. When driving it jumps up to about 14.5 volts and not much less than 13.5 volts. Today, the warning lasted for quite a while and my headlights and interior lights were getting dim. Finally, the warning went away and the volts then showed 14.5 and the lights brightened up almost immediately. When the problem is persisting, if I put the car in neutral and rev up to about 3,500 RPM the warning will go away for a few seconds but returns as soon as the RPMs drop back to normal (around 1,500 RPM at normal cruising speed).

Due to the age of the alternator I assume that this is the source of the problem. However, I am not experienced with this and wonder if the voltage regulator could be the problem instead.

The car is with the mechanic tonight and he will be looking it over tomorrow. Does anyone know based on the symptoms if this seems more like an alternator problem vs. a voltage regulator problem? I am not sure how the symptoms would differ.

By the way, so far I haven't been left stranded. The car has always cranked up on the first try although a bit slowly at times.

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I would check the electrical connections on the batteries, make sure that they are tight and free of corrosion. However, I think you have a bad alternator. On most GM cars the voltage regulator is built into the alternator. So it's just easier and cheaper to replace the whole thing.

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Right. It takes a good 5-10 minutes for things to seem "normal" again. Cranking is less robust and lights seem a bit dim. Once running and the warning message finally goes off, then things seem normal again.

I forgot to mention that today when it took longer than usual for the warning to go away, not only did the lights get real dim but then I suddenly got about 6 new and apparently unrelated codes in the history. They had to do with traction control and such. None were current codes and I assumed that the PCM went a little nuts due to the low power supply. I cleared the codes and none of the returned the rest of the day.

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I had my alternator replaced with a new A/C Delco one. This appears to have compeltely corrected the problem. The car now idles at 14.2 volts and only seems to waiver from that by +/- .1 volts. No problems and no codes.

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