All lights go dim to bright, bright to dim

Asked by Guru2WKMJ Feb 17, 2024 at 06:36 PM about the 2002 Ford Taurus SE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Car died, attached jumper cables & started, removed neg cable & engine died.
Installed a charged battery & eng would stay running. Checked voltage output
and no reading. Replaced alternator(first new alt was bad) & now with lights &
heater on lights go from bright to dim continousley

2 Answers
311,245

Gene answered about a year ago

Voltage regulator is bad.

1 people found this helpful.
Mark helpful
158,495

James answered about a year ago

Buy a new, not rebuilt or remanufactured, alternator. You'll have better luck. A rebuilt alternator gets cleaned, only the bad parts replaced, put back together, and sold to you. So it's very common to get a defective one right out of the box. Also, since your battery was completely dead, recharge it or, if it's more than 3 years old, replace it. The alternator is not designed to recharge a completely dead battery. Hope that helps! Jim

1 people found this helpful.
Mark helpful

Your Answer:

Related Questions

Taurus

Looking for a Used Taurus in your area?

CarGurus has 1,943 nationwide Taurus listings starting at $1,995.

ZIP:

Own this car?

Share your experience with others.

2002 Ford Taurus

Write a car review

Review another car

Shortcuts

Search Ford Taurus Questions

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Gene Arnett
    Reputation
    4,000
  • #2
    MrBlueOval
    Reputation
    3,870
  • #3
    Christopher Paden
    Reputation
    3,180
View All

Know more, shop wisely

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Ford Explorer
2,133 Great Deals out of 50,697 listings starting at $1,999
Used Ford F-150
6,466 Great Deals out of 171,569 listings starting at $1,800
Used Ford Mustang
991 Great Deals out of 21,586 listings starting at $2,500
Used Chevrolet Impala
175 Great Deals out of 3,361 listings starting at $1,500
Used Toyota Camry
2,387 Great Deals out of 42,957 listings starting at $1,500
Used Chevrolet Malibu
973 Great Deals out of 19,630 listings starting at $1,900
Used Ford Focus
253 Great Deals out of 4,661 listings starting at $500
Used Honda Accord
1,266 Great Deals out of 23,117 listings starting at $998
Used Ford Crown Victoria
85 listings starting at $5,995
Used Ford Ranger
589 Great Deals out of 17,915 listings starting at $1,100
Used Chevrolet Silverado 1500
4,193 Great Deals out of 116,901 listings starting at $1,995

Used Cars For Sale

2017 Ford Taurus SE For Sale
45 listings starting at $7,990
2016 Ford Taurus SE For Sale
31 listings starting at $4,995
2015 Ford Taurus SE For Sale
4 Great Deals out of 39 listings starting at $5,399

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.