2006 Saturn Vue Base 6 cylinder
 

Hi I'm wondering if anyone can help me. My alternator wasn't charging the battery. The Triple A guy came and put a meter on both my alternator and my battery. He was pretty sure it was the alternator. Had my friend who knows a lot about cars put a new alternator on today. I know the steps to reset the computer but I know I have to wait until the battery is fully charged. My problem is it may be a fuse or relay between the alternator and the battery? The AAA guy who was a submarine mechanic said sometimes with these there's a relay or a fuse that needs to be changed also?What could be some of the issues ?And How do I find the fuse for that or the relay? Because the alternator is brand new and the battery is charging now because the steps to reset the computer say to let the battery charge fully first. But according to my friend's meters there may still be a problem. This is why I'm asking. I am a total amateur so any help would be appreciated

That mobile guy should be sweeping floors and leave the diagnostics to someone who has a clue.To begin with how do you know the alternator wasn't charging your battery?

A couple questions.
What were your origional problems? It should be fairly easy to determine a bad alternator vs bad battery.
So you swapped out an alternator... what makes you think you need to do a ecm reset? on cars this old, you should not have to reset anything. the disconnecting of the battery wil reset it anyhow.
So is the battery now charging? It should be fairly easy to tell, just have your buddy throw a meter on the battery when running and when not running.

That mobile guy should stick to submarines. What a moron.