Had my power steering pump replaced and got my vehicle back with the charging system not working. Not sure of the relationship as none of the charging system wires are anywhere near the power steering.

Pulled the alternator and had it tested, came back good. Ohmed out the large wire from the alternator to the battery and it tested good.

With a fresh battery, the car will run fine, and after ten or fifteen minutes the battery light will come on, then the van will die shortly after. I thought the battery light would come on if the alternator wasn't charging, so I would see it immediately after starting the van. Is that not how it works on Chrysler vehicles?

Can't find any fuses or fusible links for the alternator either. I'm at a loss, don't have any idea how to troubleshoot this further.

Any help would be appreciated. This is my only vehicle with working ac, and we're in our 30th straight day of 100+ degree temperatures.

 

Was the p/s pump replaced at a shop or did you replace it? And did you have a charging problem before the P/S pump? If you had the repairs done at a shop, I would take it back to them and have them find out why you are having charging problem.

 

Sadly, I took it to a shop. I never pay anyone to work on my autos, but with it being 100+ degrees everyday, laying on the ground fighting with the pump didn't seem like a good option. And the shop has no clue, so I'm handling it from here.

So here is an update. Reinstalled the alternator and did some tests. Started the van and battery voltage went from 12.5 to 13.5 volts. Turned on the lights and the AC and voltage dropped to 12.2. Now, with the van off, I have around 12.7 at the battery and when I start it the voltage drops to 12.2 with all accessories off.

So I'm concluding that the alternator is bad. I was worried about it being the pcm but the symptoms seem to point to the alternator in my thinking.

But I'd really like for somebody that's smarter than me to chime in and give me their opinion.

Thank you very much for all of your help.

 

Boy, I seem to remember running across a TSB on this. Something about a shorted battery temp sensor under the battery. The sensor reads the battery temp and based on that the PCM computes charging rate. With a short or bum sensor it reduces charge. I think it's a high failure rate item.

But don't trust my mind.....it left me long ago.

 

Well you have two options, Alternator or PCM. If it were my van or car, I would start with an alernator. Maybe get one from the wreckers, that way it doesn't cost as much as a reman. And you would able to tell if the problem was the alt and not the PCM.

 

Master Tech, any validity to the post before yours referring to a battery temp sensor? I can't find much info at all on a battery temp sensor for this vehicle. Plus, I'm not getting any codes right now.