I also noticed a leaky front valve cover gasket, and the oil is spreading all over the engine. I was thinking that may be it could affect the electrical wires and connectors in the charging system, just a thought...
My 2000 Caravan developed this problem after our hard winter so I searched and found that tapping the alternator might reveal that the brushes were intermittent. Sure enough, a slight tap caused the charging voltage to come on at around 14 Volts. A new brush assembly was under $10 on eBay and after finally getting the alternator out and the brushes replaced, re-installed all was well!
Never disconnect the battery while the engine is running on a newer vehicle. You can run the risk of spiking the computer with voltage and ruining it. Older vehicles this would have been a common practice to see if the alternator was working. Newer vehicles rely on the battery completing the circuit!
If there is low charging voltage than the alternator is likely bad. The wires could be submerged in oil and it would not effect charging voltage. A new alternator will likely take care of the problem.
I’m happy to assist further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/jeremy_d728a59f986299fa
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My 2000 Caravan developed this problem after our hard winter so I searched and found that tapping the alternator might reveal that the brushes were intermittent. Sure enough, a slight tap caused the charging voltage to come on at around 14 Volts. A new brush assembly was under $10 on eBay and after finally getting the alternator out and the brushes replaced, re-installed all was well!
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