tozoM8

I have 11.9 V at idle and 12.1 V at 3000rpm. The car was sitting for a week. The battery was dead, so I took it to the store to test it and it was short. They gave me a new battery, but it won't charge. When I press the check button on the instrument cluster, it comes back OK. If it doesn't charge I should have a battery symbol, right?

KaMaKaZieP -ALUMIN8-

There should be another light that is next to the airbag light that will light up i the alternator does not charge. Did you check to see if maybe the short in the battery burned up the alternator wires?

tozoM8

The light next to the side marker / head light symbol does not lit when the ignition is on.

ttuling

If it's well connected at the alternator and neighboring plug, and if it carries voltage from the warning light (or directly from the battery when the key is in the start position), then the wiring which gets the charging started is okay and the alternator or regulator probably isn't.

It probably stopped charging some time before you parked it for a week. If the yellow battery symbol in the central display comes at the same extremely low voltage as on a 1987 5000, it may come on some time after trying to start with a battery too weak to crank -- not much good for advance warning.

Tom