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Question:

what happens when my 1999 mercury mountaineer check charging system light keeps coming on.?

i bought a new alternator 2 days ago and when i crank up my gauges go up and down and the radio blinks in and out and when i cut it off it wont crank back up. whats the problem?

Answer:

Well my best guess would be that there must be a wire loose somewhere between the alternator, battery, starter, or that you need a new battery.to me it sounds like once you get it started that the car will run off of the engines alternator all day long but it also needs a backup the battery to run the things such as your radio, lights, guages and other things. The car will run until you stop the feed of power which is the running alternator. If it is a loose wire it will not feed the battery any power to charge it up to re start the vehicle. Or the battery is badyou can jump it all day long and get the vehicle running but if it isnt taking a charge from the alternator because the battery has bad cellsthen the cars computer will give you a notice that something is wrong.the lights will flicker or not come on.then when you shut the car off or it shuts off on its own and you go to restart it.the battery doesnt have the juice to to its jobpersonally i would take the battery out and take it to an auto parts store or auto shop and have them fully charge or attempt to fully charge the battery and then do a withdraw test on it to tell you that it is either a good battery or a bad battery.Good luck.Mike

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