i have a 96 cavalier with the 2.2l, i have replaced pcm, fuel pump, plug wires firing module, coil packs, fuel injectors, spark plugs battery, alternator starter. and when i start the car while the battery is charged the car will run fine but it runs off the battery instead of the alternator. it will run until the battery dies. then wont do anything we've tested the alternator it tests good ive had the battery for 5 weeks. the battery light on the dash never goes away it constantly stays on. any help would be great

 

How did you test the alternator? There is obviously something wrong with the alternator or the wiring. Take a volt meter and touch the positive lead to the positive on the battery and the negative lead to the negative of the battery. You should see around 14 volts with the engine running.

 

Could be the "exciter" wire is broken (one of the wires on the alternator plug) and the voltage regulator isn't being told to activate. With the engine off, you should have close to 12 volts at that wire, as well as at the output wire on the back of the alternator.
I deleted your duplicate post in the general tech section. One per customer please, it will be seen.

 

i took the alternator to autozone and it tested fine but when it was tested at orielly's it tested bad, i put a volt meter on the alternator stud where the red wire connects to it and it hardly moved, then i put the voltmeter on the red wire going to the alternator it reads off the charts.

 

Sure looks like a bad alternator. Did your old one test bad also? And what do you mean by "off the charts", how many volts? And that's the wire in the plug you're referring to, right?

 

Are you referring to the big red wire? If you check the stud on the alternator without the wire there will be no voltage. There should be 12 volts with the engine off and and about 14 with the engine running.

 

i checked the alternator while motor was running, with the big red wire connected to the alternator, the big red wire itself came out to be "off the charts on the voltmeter. it maxed out the gauge, and as for the alternator i check stud while motor on and wire connected and it hardly wanted to move

 

Just my 2¢ but weird things start happening with voltage regulators when ground is missing. Make sure all ground wires are intact.

 

i have a 96 cavi with 2.2 im stipping for a demo car it ran before stripping.i took out the whole dash and insterment cluster out .does it have anti-theft on it and do i need to get another insterment cluster for it to stay running.

 

I have the same problem with my 96. cavalier.i was hoping someone
would have some ideas that might help me too.