A/T oil, Brake, and Battery dash lights on

[chiefwonton]

So my A/T oil, brake, and battery light came on while driving. I looked up on forums and said it could be either dead battery and/or most likely my alternator. The weird part is my car wouldn't drive. It kicked out of gear and I can creep forward in drive and reverse. Meaning when I let off the brake in either it'll creep at a very slow speed when I let go of the brake. Then I turned my car off and my car died. Couldn't turn over the engine. Thoughts?

I'm thinking it's the alternator since electrical is dead, and as it was dying the windshield wipers, interior lights, and alarm sounded like it was dying.

[RR425]

Happened to me too (A/T oil, Hand brake, Battery light) but my car still drives (though I stopped driving it as soon as the lights came on). Did the voltmeter test (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB6ZEjGm7Q) and it seems to be the alternator. Couple more threads on it:

alternator-removal-help-t609588.html

help-a-t-oil-temp-battery-brake-dash-li ... 00740.html

I got my old alternator off and waiting for my remanufactured Denso alternator from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E ... UTF8&psc=1) either today or tomorrow. Will install it then.

Here's the OEM Hitachi: https://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-ALR0012- ... or+hitachi

Or you can get a cheap one ($140) but worse quality at a local parts store.

Don't freak out about other people saying it is super difficult to do. Medium difficulty DIY IMO. And I'm no mechanic, just a garage and basic tools. Haven't installed the new one yet, but removing the old alternator was not too difficult.

The key is to remove the battery and the plastic platform the battery sits on, so you can access it from the top, not just bottom.

[chiefwonton]

Awesome thanks. I'll do that.

[RR425]

Just got done installing the alternator. Installation was about the same difficulty as removal.

Few pointers to keep in mind:

#1. As I said before- remove the battery. Can't do this project without this.

#2. Besides removing and installing the battery, the first and last thing you should do is loosen/tighter the idle pulley. The pulley has to be loose when you loosen/tighten the serpentine belt. There is a screw facing down (12mm) right under the pulley. Loosening/tightening this screw loosens/tightens the belt, but only if the nut that holds the pulley is loose.

#3. When installing the new alternator, the nut for the top screw has a 90 degree metal piece attached to it. That 90 degree piece has to face to the side so it sits flush against the alternator. If it is facing down, you will not be able to tighten the screw. I did this first, then had to loosen everything back up and reposition the nut.

#4 Detach and pull up the fan shroud to remove/install alternator. You will have to detach one radiator hose (the one on top) and pull it to the side (I did not remove it, just detached it from the radiator). With the fan shroud pulled up a little (it is held by two 10mm screws on top) you will have just enough room at the bottom to maneuver the alternator around the sway bar to pull it out of the car (and put the new one in the same way).

Good luck. This is not as crazy as everyone on here is saying. Very doable with basic tools and some patience.