Ok, I had a amp hooked up to my battery for about a year with a new batt installed. Had no problems with battery drain, the other day I went to start the car and the batt was weak, drove it around for about 40miles or so and it would barely start. The next time the batt was dead, I unhooked the amp cable and it touched a bolt and it sparked so i fig. this was killing the battery. I now notice the battery light does not light up at all, I even put in a diff. bulb and it still does not light up at all. The car starts ok now, i charged it up with a charger, but is this a alt issue or just a bad cluster issue? I don't know if the light has been out for a while or just went out, i have not noticed it to tell u the truth I just know the light does not light up with the key on, only check engine, oil, air bag light up thats it. mines a 96 btw

thanks!

 

bump

 

If you were able to charge the same battery and start up the car then it is an alternator issue. Usually if the alternator goes bad, you will see the brake light come up.

 

To see if its the alternator you can try turning the car on and disconnecting the neg battery terminal while the engine is running. If your car cuts off chances are it's the alternator...

Or take your your car somewhere and have them test how much voltage the alternator is producing may be a better bet(note more reliable)

 

If the charge/alternator fault circuit in your cluster isn't working correctly, or disconnected, the alternator will not charge the battery. You may have a bad cluster, usually just a solder line or some corrosion that's causing the issue. Correct that and your charging system should come back to life. You'll know it's working when the bulb in your cluster comes on when the key is turned on.

 

from what i can see the cluster looked ok, im not seeing the brake light come on either. How would the cluster light control what the alt is doing? I'll just have it checked if it acts like its not charging