Chrysler Repair: Battery light coming on, intermittently, chrysler concorde lxi, negative battery cable

Question
Hi,

  I own a 2000 Chrysler concorde lxi with a 3.2 liter engine. Over the last couple of months, i noticed my charging light intermittently coming on while driving. When i would stop and restart the car, it would go off and sometimes it would stay off, and sometimes it would come back on after a while. Since the battery was original, I figured it was time to change it, so i did, and i found while doing this that my negative battery cable was missing some insulation on it, so i changed that as well. This did not fix the problem, so i figured i should change the alternator as well, which i did this past weekend. I should also mention that i have also been getting "popping" sounds from my stereo speakers whenever i listen to radio/CD and the car is running(doesn't happen when key is on accessory and car is not running), but i don't know if this is related or not. Anyway, changing tthe alternator did not fix the problem, as the battery light continues to come on after about 20 minutes of driving. Can this be the result of a faulty battery temp sensor? I do not get any trouble codes when this happens as i have checked with a scanner. I also don't know where the battery temp sensor is.I also have the infamous problem of the flickering dash and headlamps that i see a lot of people seem to have as well with this car.

Answer
Hi Brian,
It could be the wire between the alternator and the engine control computer or from the alternator to the 12v supply to the field coils, is flaky as those wires are needed for the voltage regulation of the alternator field coils; or it could be a flaky wire between the alternator output and the battery + cable clamp, or it could be an intermittent short (might be the cause of the 'pop' sound) circuit of any 12V wire in the car to ground. So those are the specific wires to check and a more general issue to consider.
The fat red wire at the alternator goes through a spliced-in wire-like device which is called a 'fusible link'. And that link might be flakey, which usual manifests itself by the hidden  wire inside of it actually separating (thus the fuse-like behavior). So find that and try pulling on the wire's ends to see if it will separate easily in which case that would be something to replace. The red wire continues on to the + post clamp at the battery. The field control voltage wire is orange/green at the alternator and it goes through fuse T in the power box under the hood so look closely at that fuse to make sure it doesn't have a subtle crack in its interior wire. The dark green wire at the alternator goed to pin 8 of the engine computer so check that wire for any sign of damage and try shaking it while checking the continuity of the wire from end to end with an ohmmeter or continuity tester.
Those are the first steps that I would suggest.
I doubt it is the battery temp sensor that would cause the alternator to allow the voltage to drop so low as to turn 'on' the warning light.
Roland