My '92 745 is having trouble... it seems like the battery is only charging intermittently... sometimes the car will just die, and have no juice, and if jumped, it will die as soon as it is disconnected from the charging car... although if it sits a while after dying, and then gets jumped, sometimes it will work well. This happened to me a couple years ago, and was fixed by replacing the overdrive relay, however, at that time, when this was happening my car wouldn't shift into 4th...

Any ideas? Also... it seems possible that when this is happening, the brake lights don't go on, or maybe that's a whole different problem! (any ideas on that problem?)

I love my car, but it seems very sad right now... it was hit in a parking lot, so it's in the body shop right now, then i have to get these issues figured out!

Thanks!

So I just got my car out of the body shop today... the more I read, the more I'm suspecting the alternator voltage regulator-- one more thing to throw in, about half the time, when I am idling, it's idling VERY poorly (fluctuating between 0 and 500 rpm, and occasionally dying)... would this go along with my laymans diagnosis?

I assume that "no juice" means no electrical supply i.e. no electrics working? If so: has the alternator brush pack been changed? Do you ALWAYS get a charging light when the ignition is first switched on? If not, your alt. brushes are faulty (or possibly the alt. regulator). I assume you have checked the security of connections to alt? I would guess the brake light issue is un-related but if you have "no juice" then nothing will work, will it. Regards
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BillB

Charging light? It IS acting like the alternator is only charging the battery intermittently, but the alternator is only 2 years old, and it tests as being very strong. My battery terminals were corroded, so i cleaned them and applied an anti-corrosion spray. Battery tests good. I can't find any loose connections, nor could the people at auto zone.

The charging light (bulb) on the dash HAS to work or the alt. won't work. Make sure the bulb is not intermittent i.e. ensure it always comes on when turning ignition on and after turning engine off. Apart from that the FAQ gives good info on charging. Regards.
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BillB

hmmm.... my dash lights have not worked appropriately since about 100k miles (i'm pulling up on 250)... which light is this?

I mean the red light with a battery symbol to the immediate right of the oil light, left of dash centre. It has to illuminate when ignition is first switched on or the alt. won't charge. Regards.
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BillB

update, i ordered new light assemblies for both sides, which should fix my tail light issues... they were getting pretty worn and both sides had at least one cracked lens