the charge light is on, but the alternater is charging 13.4 or so volts when its running. any ideas?

 

the little light that looks like a battery??? when mine came on i tested the batery and it wasCCA were crapped out...also, the voltace should be around 14.4v

 

13.8 to 14.2 is normal
over 14.2 your gettin too high
the battery is fine, the alternator charges great, just the light is on.

 

Your battery temp sensory is no good, dissconnected or the wires are frayed.

 

13.4 volts is too low, normal should be around14.2 volts (can be as high as 14.5 under high charge rate). First clean and tighten boththe battery + and - connections. If this does not solve the problem then measure the voltage drop between the bat. + and the Alt. + terminals while running, if you measure more than a few millivolts there is a bad connection, do the same voltage reading from Bat.- to the alt. case if you measure more than a few millivolts you have a bad ground. If this does not improve your charge voltage have the alternator checked it may have a bad diode or stator winding.

 

If this sensor is bad it should give a CEL light and code 44 Battery temp. out of range. I'm not sure that it does anything to the charging system other than trigger the code? anyone!!

 

i forgot about that temp sensor. it was charging 13.4 at idle with the cooling fans on.