After long tough winter, took my cover off and found the usual dead battery. Charged for 5 hrs; all looked good. Drove car (not too far; 6 miles) and last nite low battery icon appears. Then shut car off, went back to start 10 mins later and car did not turn over. Batterey only 2 yrs old (interstate) 2 hours later car turned over and light still on. Should I charge the battery longer, or isthere a possible short?

 

Low battery light? Sounds like maybe your alternator took a crap or the belt is broken.

 

Hey Doc; I had the battery tested and all is good. Must be the alternator. Do you have a link on how to replace the alt?

 

No link unfortunately, but i would check your belt first. Remove the carpet behind the drivers/passenger seat, then remove the metal cover (10mm bolts/nuts)....be careful, the edges are VERY sharp. From there you can see the front of the engine and the alternator.

On another note, how does your ignition switch feel? Sometimes when that switch goes bad it can cause some real weird electrical issues. Known issue, the part is about $30

 

I removed the alternator and brought it too a electric shop.They diagnosed a bad regulator and a malfunction with the pully. He quoted me $220 to make the repairs. The pully would be "after market". I thought this was fair since a rebuilt would be slightly higher and not be the original Bosch. Ignition key seems fine

 

Yup, seems like a fair price to me!