GEN Light

Had a light come on tonight leaving work that was red and said "GEN". what does this mean? went to the gas station, cut it off, and then cranked it back up and it was gone....???

Have you checked your belt? Is it slipping?When the gen light is on, that means it is not charging.. Thats my guess

Yeah check the belt, you might have a charging problem. Mine went on after my alternator took a crap.

the serp. belt? no i haven't checked it...will though tomorrow

Wal-Mart has a battery charger that will also allow you to see your battery voltage and alternator voltage. They are pretty cheap. I'd be surprised if the belt could slip so much that the alternator couldn't charge your system. It might be a combo of lose belt and alternator having a problem though, or just the alternator.

It would be a pain, but you can take the alternator off and have it checked at an autoparts place. Don't but a replacement alternator from Autozone though. My stepson got 5 from there, before finally getting one from O'Reily's.

well the battery meter is on the first line (far to the left) before going into the red...it just started doing this today...haven't checked to see if the belt is slipping. Just replaced the serp belt not too long ago.

worried it's going to be the alternator!

check the belt and disconnect battery (not with it running) and clean both terminals first. If the gauge on the dash is still reading low, have the battery checked to verify it's still serviceable, and then check voltage at the battery with it running. You want a minimum of 13.8V at the battery (running) and upper limit around 14.5V. If all the above checks out and the light comes back, you will want to remove the alt. and have it bench tested to determine if the diode trio has failed. Any auto parts store can do this test and we might not even have to get into the discussion about who's tester will put a load on the alt. and who's products will not last.......

thanks for the info

My GEN and Check ENG lights are like 1/3 on(very dim)--this wasn't until I began using a 97 ecu in my 96. Voltage is fine and alternator charging good, so I blame it on using the wrong ecu.

turns out i had a bad battery and a bad alternator...go figure after i just ordered a new radiator and exhaust manifold!!!