I just put in a new alternator yesterday, been driving it quite a bit, probably 100 miles so far and now I see a "battery low voltage" message. Does this mean my alternator is a dud, or I did something wrong?

I am at work and afraid I wont be able to drive home (30 miles) at night with the lights on and such...

Thanks,

Mark.

 

I suggest you take it to neares autozone so the can check the voltage the alternator is giving and check the battery too.. they will do it for free. I suggest to try that first.

 

I would think the battery light would come on as soon as you started the motor if the alternator was not putting out. Is the alternator rated for enough amperage? My s60 has gone through alternators. It's usually the regulator on the end of the alternator going bad.

 

I just checked the voltage of the battery after sitting for 3 hours, it is around 12 volts, kind of low.

Could a bad battery cause the "engine system service urgent" message to appear? I have had this message for a week or so.

Planning on having both checked out tomorrow.

 

Had the battery checked at two different places (the car parts store and the Volvo specialist), checked out fine, the 1.5 volts is w/out the car on which is ok, with the car running it rated about 13.9 volts. The Volvo guys are not sure why I got the low voltage message but recommended I replace it anyway as it is 6 1/2 years old.