Battery light and temp gauge

[dsmvii]

Cruising today I noticed my battery light come on along with the brake light so i pulled over right away. At the same time the temp gauge read hot so turned the car off. Im pretty sure its not my alternator since i just replaced it maybe a month ago now.Also, after a quick blaze session when the car cooled down, I checked under the hood and the car had plenty of coolant and oil. Left the coolant cap off and let the car warm and "overheat" and the coolant seemed normal. I thought if it overheated the coolant would buble up or do something at least? Didn't really want to but was running out of ideas so I just tightened the cap, dropped off a buddy and made it home safe (10 miles guestimated)

Hopefully someone has been through this and could give some possibilities or just some things to check out I'm not sure where to start.

Should mention that I have been having idle problems for a while now where the car just idles low sometimes and makes the lights dim in and out. I think I've checked all the vacuum lines already..So it must be something electrical right?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Check the wiring for the altenator.

 

[VtecvrsTurbo]

+1^^^ on alternator wiring. A really low idle can cause dimming of lights. Check for some leaks to fix your idle, and check around your alternator for loose or damaged wires. On my old DSM, the plug going into the alternator was cracked and it wouldnt always give the signal to charge when needed, causing random stalling due to dead battery.

 

[dsmvii]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I know there is one wire down there thats been loose for a long time now i think its the oil pressure sensor wire im going to check out the alternator wiring in the morning or later on tonight.
you guys know what color/s the oil pressure sensor wire is just to be sure about that wire

Alright so car still starts fine this morning and lights still on..

wires look good to alternator and the car doesnt turn off when i disconect the battery so i think the alternator is fine right?

It has to be something electrical but where to go from here??

 

[dsmvii]

Quick update:
So I just decided to test the alternator yesterday took it in to the store and failed right away!
Good thing warranty got me..
cars running now with no lights again just the low idle problem.
on a cold start the idle is kinda normal and after driving it and stopped they drop low but it changes sometimes.

 

[motomattx]

Your crankshaft pulley might be seperating.

 

[dsmvii]

what do you mean seperating? like they are coming loose and off?

 

[luisgil]

Kinda having a similar problem. Idle is pretty normal though. 800-1000. But if I were to use a bit more power like the headlights and then try using the wipers the idle goes up. After a while of using it together a belt starts squeaking. I'll check on it tomorrow and see what I can find.

 

[motomattx]

what do you mean seperating? like they are coming loose and off?

The dampener is made up of an inner metal ring and an outer ring that the belts ride on, the only thing that connects the two pieces is the urethane rubber between the two, after a few years of use the outer ring will tear away from the rubber and allow the inner ring to spin while the outer that drives your belts slips on the torn rubber.

To look at it is not good enough because they usually always look fine, sometimes they squeel like a belt slipping and sometimes they dont but if its slipping it wont turn your alternator or waterpump fast enough and can cause overheating and lack of charging.

To check it remove the belts and pull on the outer ring as hard as you can, if it pulls off then the dampener is junk.

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

the car doesnt turn off when i disconect the battery so i think the alternator is fine right?

Oh no! You should never unhook the battery with the car running.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/316090-car-dies-when-i-unhook-battery-new-alt.html

Never assume that the alternator is good even if it was just replaced. You need to make sure you have around 13.5-14.8 volts (testing at the battery terminals) with the car running.

 

[dsmvii]

why not disconnect the battery to test alternator? besides that u can get extremely electricuted.?

ill have to check my volts today and as for the dampener all have to check into it more .
could oil possibly leak from there if it was bad motomatt?

 

[GRAVEDIGGER]

why not disconnect the battery to test alternator? besides that u can get extremely electricuted.?

Extremely electrocuted?? Probably not.

THIS... http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/211550-battery-alternator-question.html#post1763645

 

[dsmvii]

alright im convinced not to do that again.. from now on only voltage testing. thx for showing me that

 

[luisgil]

So I went outside today and checked everything out. I turned on my high beams and my RPMs went lower. After turning my wipers on the RPMS start going crazy and read from 1.5k and go down all the way to 0, but the car doesn't turn off. It shakes a bit more but not really a big difference. The belt starts squealing loudly as well. Note that the belts are almost brand new. If needed I can post up a video.

Thought it would be appropriate to post here since the problems seem similar.

 

[motomattx]

It might be the dampener squeeling.

 

[Racejunkie05]

When my voltage regulator went out of my fairly new alternator the Ecu used my temp gauge to show me that the alternator was overcharging. As the rpms went up so did the temp gauge. They were basically in sinc. When I checked with My voltmeter it was showing 15-16 volts. I'm lucky it didn't cause any serious damage. Like someone said above just cause your alternator is new doesn't mean a thing especially if it's a cheap parts store core. Figured I'd share my experience. Goodluck

 

[motomattx]

When my voltage regulator went out of my fairly new alternator the Ecu used my temp gauge to show me that the alternator was overcharging. As the rpms went up so did the temp gauge. They were basically in sinc. When I checked with My voltmeter it was showing 15-16 volts. I'm lucky it didn't cause any serious damage. Like someone said above just cause your alternator is new doesn't mean a thing especially if it's a cheap parts store core. Figured I'd share my experience. Goodluck

Good point.

 

[luisgil]

It might be the dampener squeeling.

That's what I thought. So I went outside and used my wipers and the RPM went straight down to zero. But once again the car didn't turn off, neither did it feel like the RPMs went down that much.

 

[Joethefallen23]

Alternator is on it's way out. Literally just happened to me. Less than a month old from a rebuild shop and the 4th one this year. Lights get dim, abs and srs lights come on and the tach and speedo stop responding with this particular alternator. Used to happen only with a load on (headlights, etc.) But it was only a matter of time. The others would give the brake, coolant and battery lights. Change it out ASAP before you're left calling a tow when it finally grenades. Battery survived the ordeal in my case. Also picked up a good used 90 amp galant alt for $45 from Miller. Threw some new brushes and a new front bearing in it and so far so good. Mitsu voltage regs seem to be our best bet. Keep in mind I now have a fully wrapped downpipe and well insulated exhaust shields. Alt still gets plenty warm to the touch. Contemplating making some sort of duct to feed cold air to the alt from the drivers side inlet on the 2gb style bumper.

 

[luisgil]

Alternator is on it's way out. Literally just happened to me. Less than a month old.l from a rebuild shop. Lights get dim, abs and srs lights come on and the tach and speed and stop responding. Used to happen only with a load on (headlights, etc.) But it was only a matter of time. Change it out ASAP before you're left calling a tow when it finally grenades. Battery survived the ordeal in my case.

I had a feeling it was the alternator. I'll check the battery when changing it out too. Thanks.

 

[dsmvii]

my headlights and electrical things dont really have an effect on my idle.. not that it CANT be an electrical problem but turning off n on my headlights n wipers have no effect

im going to try and post a video so you all can see the behavior of the idle

 

[dsmvii]

We'll guys just thought I'd share that I no longer have an idle problem!
In fact, my car won't even start up anymore because my timing belt snapped on me :'(
And from reading so far I think I'm in for a lot

 

[motomattx]

Its not all that bad to repair the damage from that, dont worry or feel bad.

 

[dsmvii]

where do I start? Im trying to look for a good forum or something on how to go through it all and what to look for

 

[motomattx]

If you search dsmtalk there was a pretty good thread on there one time if I recall correctly.