Charging system failure? Is this battery or alternator? Is it easy to change alternat

[bps02gtp]

I just replaced the battery when that happened to me and it worked.
...but mine wasnt when driving.

i hope not but i give your battery a year and it'll start dying again. all you did is put a brand new battery in there that holds a really really good charge. but when the alternator goes to complete sh!t it wont charge that brand new battery anymore.

the alternator is very easy to do. based on this thread i'm assuming that you dont do many repairs and/or have a lot of tools? so your hardest part would probably be getting to the tensioner. once you get the belt off those 3 bolts and one wire on the back is nothing. when you do it just remember to remove the negative battery cable but like mentioned before you should definately make sure you dont have corrosion build up.

[FriboRage]

I've gotten that message 3 or 4 times since I've owned the car... (3 years or so)

Each time I just disconnect and reconnect the battery and problem solved. Last time I had some weirdness with the coolant temp sensor, but after sitting overnight it cleared itself up.

Seems to always happen to me when it's wet out, but yeah I've had it multiple times and both my battery and alternator are strong.

The fact that it sat overnight and went back to normal kinda makes me think water got somewhere that made the car unhapy.

[KeithGTP03]

i hope not but i give your battery a year and it'll start dying again. all you did is put a brand new battery in there that holds a really really good charge. but when the alternator goes to complete sh!t it wont charge that brand new battery anymore.

Nah...you'll know pretty soon after. That was the first thing I tried when my charging system light came on. After replacing the battery, the charging system light stayed on and the car shut off after driving for 20 minutes. It was my alternator. I actually went through 3 alts in 1 month. The first one lasted 3 weeks, then the charging system light came on. Then next 2 lasted a few days each. The fourth one has been on for a few years. Moral of this lame story is: If you buy an alternator, make sure the sticker on it doesnt say "remanufactured in Mexico". The first three I bought did. The last one I bought was remanied in the US. Just a coincidence? Maybe.