I have an '03 Ford Focus that was recently given to me by my father.

The battery light in the focus has been on for nearly a year. He had the battery and alternator both replaced at Sears in April of this year. It has been driven various distances without stalling since then - and when I received the vehicle a week ago I set about to try to fix the car completely.

I ran a test on the car and found the battery to be fine but only 12.1 volts coming out of the battery (tested at the B-terminal of the alternator) I returned the car to sears as the alternator was still under warranty - have now been through 3 remanufactured alternators (all of which read 12.1 volts of output as soon as they are installed.) I have tested all the wiring leading from the alternator to the battery - the fuses - took the 3 prong off the alternator and tested that - everything points to the alternator being the problem.

And yet, every time I put a new alternator in... it outputs only 12.1 volts.


This is driving me nuts and if anyone has any suggestions or has encountered similar problems, ANY help is appreciated. Thank you!