3 indicator lights on ...... cant figure out whats wrong!!

[Fattie92]

Ok well i had the alternator bench tested (cold) and it checked out fine. I also had the battery tested and all was good there. now today my low coolant level, batt. , and brake light come on. They are all dimmer then normal. If i pull the parking brake, the brake light gets brighter like normal. I cleaned the connections to the batt as well. I read another post on here and it siad that it ended up being his alternator..... but mine tested fine the other day..... any ideas?

 

[mitsutuner]

If you have ABS & your ABS light is NOT on, then your alt is OK.
I'm assuming your coolant level checked OK?
I'm leaning,(& I hate to say this almost as much as you hate to hear it), in the direction of the ECU, since that is where your warning light signals come from.
But first, how many miles on the car & what was worked on recently, besdides the alt. & how does the motor start & run & drive? Have you been running the heater/defroster a lot lately?
Have you ever done anything with the ECU?
Any other different indicaters/behaviours you have noticed very recently?

 

[Fattie92]

well i went out to est the alternator idea... started the car and checked batt voltage.. steady at around 13.7 then i turned on the lights and it dropped to about 12 and stayed there... then i turned the brights on and it dropped more.... ill go have it tested again tomorrow, and this time i wont take it to autozone!

 

[Fattie92]

well i just put the trans back in and drove it around lastnight... everything was ok. Since i bought the car iv had a wandering idle .. ISC checked out fine.. no vacuum leaks... I DO have ABS .. and that light is NOT on. it does the pre check at start up, and then goes off. 2 other people on here had the same problem and it was the alternator... and i dont think the ECU would make the voltage at the batt drop when accesories were turned on... coolant is ok... car is a 92 with 87600 miles car starts right up... drove fine lastnight (dont want to take it out now and be stranded).. and i ran the heater/defrost all night lastnight almost..

 

[Todd95TSi]

Originally posted by mitsutuner
Have you been running the heater/defroster a lot lately?

Why is this relevent? (I'm not saying you are wrong. I just want to know.) Is it because of the extra load required to run these options, or because of the temperature change that occurs in the cabin?

Thanks!

 

[Fattie92]

i was wondering the same about the heater... but figured id let him roll with it and see what he came up with. Only thing i could think of was the temperature in the cabin/ecu area. can anyone else back up the ECU theory?

 

[Defiant]

My suspicion is that the alternator may have died since being tested.

 

[Raph]

you gotta check how much Ampere your alternator is bring with all accessories on..it should bring at least 79 to 100 Amps...did they only check the Volt Charge at Autozone they gotta test your Alternator while its in your car!

does your Alt light come on when u start the car?if it doesnt ,something is wrong!(the Alt light doesnt just go bad by itself,something causes it to ..like too much Volt Charge..e.i 15+volts..and thatll screw your ecu)

more details!!

 

[Fattie92]

Originally posted by Raph
you gotta check how much Ampere your alternator is bring with all accessories on..it should bring at least 79 to 100 Amps...did they only check the Volt Charge at Autozone they gotta test your Alternator while its in your car!

does your Alt light come on when u start the car?if it doesnt ,something is wrong!(the Alt light doesnt just go bad by itself,something causes it to ..like too much Volt Charge..e.i 15+volts..and thatll screw your ecu)

more details!!

Yeah auto zone only did a voltage charge on it, and it was puttin out 14v, and the guy handed it back to me and said it was fine. i put it back in the car and ran the car and everything was fine... then i pulled it in my garage to adjust the clutch pedal rod, then went to take it for a test drive and the 3 lights were on. I didnt bump any wires down there so i dont think thats the problem. we checked the voltage of the batt with the car running with NO accesories on and it was puttin out a good 13.7-14v ....then we desided to load it up and put the lights on , it dropped to 12.4 ans stayed there ... then we put the brights on and it dropped to 12v and started dropping! Iv cleaned every batt connection, and checked the connections to the alternator, and everything looks good. So far my conclusion is the alternator. I dont see how it can go bad just like that...but then again it is a DSM.

ps..the light comes on for the self check when you turn the ignition on, then it stayes on..but not as bright as it should be...

 

[BUCK]

I always tell guys to get rid of any Power Steering Fluid leaks too when replacing Alternators - it kills them quick.

 

[Fattie92]

Originally posted by BUCK
I always tell guys to get rid of any Power Steering Fluid leaks too when replacing Alternators - it kills them quick.

yeah its a good idea... but no power steering leaks here.

 

[mitsutuner]

99% sure your alt is OK.
just to be sure--check the wire that goes to your PS pump & make sure the insulation is good & it's not shorting to ground where it goes through the stiff wire clamp. I'. also guessing that you removed the rad fan to repl. the alt. verify that the fan runs when it's supposed to. (These are long shots, but easy to rule out).
Here's where I'm going with the heater defroster, yes, it puts heat on the adjacent ECU & heat is what kills the ECU, (verified on every ECU repair website & my own personal experience). The voltage to your lit warning indicaters comes directly from the ECU & since your warning lights are softly glowing when they are not supposed to, they are getting a low voltage from somewhere.
Before getting deeper into the ECU, has aftermarket stereo or alarm been installed in the car or has the factory alarm been disabled? Where I'm going here is possible mis-wiring or bad or wet connections. Had you ever had the instrument panel open/apart for any reason? If your stuff is all unhampered with & still stock, you're probably OK here.
Another long shot--water somehow getting into the cabin/dash area from the outside vents near the wiper blades or coolant leakage where the heater hoses meet the firewall in the engine bay or ?. (mitsu likes to plumb coolant all over the place, but to my knowledge, it only goes to the heater box inside the cabin. lowered coolant level is a big clue here)
it's easy to pull out the ECU & visual inspect with a lense the board for capacitor leak damage & heat damage----green turns brown or black.
If possible, plug your ECU into the car of a very good friend & see what happens.
Look around for clues & reply. (& don't forget the old mechanics trick--in the absence of any obvious failures--put tape over the warning lights)

 

[Fattie92]

the only electrical work i have done, have been a few gauges(boost, egt, and a/f) ...other than that... no electrical work. No leaks inside.. coolant level is OK. i ohmed out the B+ wire on the alt to the batt and it tested good with 1.0ohms. i then desided to hook up the voltmeter to the batt and see what it was charging at.. while running with nothin on it was charging at 12.6 ... and with all the accesories on it dropped to 11.65 ... as far as i know it should be in the 13.4-14v range at all times. I also noticed that the PS pressure switch wire was disconnected, and was hoping that that was the problem.. hooked it up and got the same results...poor charging and 3 dim lights. i looked over all the wires that i can see in that harness and they all LOOK ok.... im gonna go to ...cough...cough....auto...cough....zone...cough....cough..... and pick up an alternator. ill be back!

 

[theTuner]

i really think your overlooking the problem, i had a similar situation and all i needed was a new battery and new connecting ends so it can make a good connection to it.

 

[mitsutuner]

I'll wager 1 peso that your alt/batt/charging is OK, but at the same time would be happy to lose the bet. Based on your voltage readings, I'm sure this is all OK, but you have to wonder why mitsu didn't put a voltmeter in the dash. I'm a little suspicious of your guage installations--is there a time correllation between the installs & your current symptoms?
Beyond that, I'm still leaning towards the ECU, but genuinely hope it's OK. I can elaborate on my ECU drama if your story get's that far, I'm very curious to know what you find.----gregorio

 

[Fattie92]

Originally posted by mitsutuner
I'll wager 1 peso that your alt/batt/charging is OK, but at the same time would be happy to lose the bet. Based on your voltage readings, I'm sure this is all OK, but you have to wonder why mitsu didn't put a voltmeter in the dash. I'm a little suspicious of your guage installations--is there a time correllation between the installs & your current symptoms?
Beyond that, I'm still leaning towards the ECU, but genuinely hope it's OK. I can elaborate on my ECU drama if your story get's that far, I'm very curious to know what you find.----gregorio

the gauges were installed a while ago. I dont think they are playing a roll in my problem at all. And you siad you think my voltage readings are OK??? just curious how you think they are ok when its below 12v?


also, this it for TheTuner ...i had the batt load tested and it passed with flying colors... but then agian so did the alternator.

 

[Fattie92]

well i took my alt over to NAPA... ding ding ding.. it failed!! went to auto zone and got a new one, put it in and magicaly all 3 lights dissapeared! Thanks for all your input guys! .. ohh yeah and when do i get my peso??

 

[mitsutuner]

Your check is in the mail, HA! I'm glad your problem is fixed, sorry if I went off the deep end--my experience is that mitsu, translated to english, means "worse case scenario".

 

[Fattie92]

its cool. i know my caps need to be replaced, so i wasnt ruling your theory out.. im just glad its fixed even though it cost me 139 bucks

now i gotta try to get this thing to let me shift into 2nd smooth....ahhhh the joys of owning a DSM

 

[mitsutuner]

I think you are saying I was partially correct & therefore I may not owe you the full peso, but some unknown fraction thereof. If you wait too long on the caps, like I did, your microchips will go fubar, which means you have to replace the pcboard & pay the core charge--it adds up tu about $400 vs about half that . Be sure to check out this website, they say that rarely do ECU's need only caps. A guy on the sac dsm website has 1 for sale & I think it was for your dsm model.
http://www.avproecm.com/process1.htm
If you got plenty of dough, just go with an AEM programmable ECU, it eliminates the need for the factory ECU

 

[mitsutuner]

I think you are saying I was partially correct & therefore I may not owe you the full peso, but some unknown fraction thereof. If you wait too long on the caps, like I did, your microchips will go fubar, which means you have to replace the pcboard & pay the core charge--it adds up tu about $400 vs about half that . Be sure to check out this website, they say that rarely do ECU's need only caps. A guy on the sac dsm website has 1 for sale & I think it was for your dsm model.
http://www.avproecm.com/process1.htm
If you got plenty of dough, just go with an AEM programmable ECU, it eliminates the need for the factory ECU

 

[Fattie92]

well i dont have any dough...im a college student.. need i say more? .. and thanks for that website, i planned on inspecting the board like that anyways... it should not be a big problem for me.. iv got a pretty good electrical background and training.. i guess well see what happens when i go to do it.