Grover01

Hello I have a 1998 sc300, and when I give a little gas and try to turn the steering wheel it tightens up and battery light comes on but after a charge to the battery it runs fine. I took the cables iff battery and car continued to run to check altenator. so any ideas or could it still be the altenator?

good2go

iTrader: (6)

Check the simple stuff first. Is the belt slipping? Could it be that the belt slips when the power steering pump kicks in at low rpms? Maybe try turning on your AC while just sitting at an idle and see if it has the same effect sice it's belt driven. Also, check for good ground contacts from the alternator as well as the battery and various chassis points. It could still be that your alternator is marginal though. Maybe you could take a voltage reading on your battery when the engine is off, at idle, and again at about 2500 rpms.

Grover01

I tried this and a pully broke off,the one towards the bottum. any suggestions

good2go

iTrader: (6)

Tried what (specifically)??

You mean the crank/vibration damper pulley that drives all the other belts?

Those do have a nasty habit of coming loose occasionally. If that's what's happened, you'll need a new (or good used) one; there is no way of repairing the broken one. That would definitely explain the trouble with any belt driven accessories (like your alternator). It's a bit of a job to change one, and most people like to consider addressing other likely maintenance issues while they're in there (ie. timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, thermostat, cam and crank seals, etc. . . .all accessible once you've got that pulley off.