Brake, Battery light - flicker on /off DEAD ALTERNATOR [Merged 4-8]

[BrnOutKing]

Ok this just started happening.

I'll be driving and the E-Brake and Battery light will flicker on / off while driving..... or I'll start it up and they'll stay on.

normally I'd think it was battery related.

But I'm not sure on this one. - I just changed my brake pads, so that shouldn't be triggering anything.

The battery is a couple months old. - however my alternator is going - it doens't work from time to time.

What's your opinions. - I noticed it goes on and off with bumps with leads me to believe it's a loose wire or something?

However I have no Idea which one? or where it would be located.

I'm thinking I'm going to pull the center console off to check out the e-brake area for anything out of the ordinary today.

Thanks
-brian

 

[Defiant]

Most likely your new alternator has shit the bed. It happens.

 

[dnhieu]

do you have your head shield around your manifold,turbo,and o2 housing? if not this MIGHT be the cause of your dead alternator. now i dont have them and i havent replace my alternator yet (knock on wood) but they are their for that very reason.

hope that helps
david

 

[jackalopeTsi]

when i had my turbo put on the guy left the shields off. i still have them here but not on the car. i checked the voltage right after i started the car and it was 12.15v. it started up fine btw. im gonna let it run for a while to see if it will charge any, then check voltage again.

 

[jackalopeTsi]

Alternator is goin out. battery voltage was decreasing slowly at idle.

when i went out to re-check it i smelled something burning. like wires or something. but alternator has a lifetime warranty so all i have to do is take the old one in. and have someone put it in.

 

[jackalopeTsi]

Found my problem, I had a non-turbo alternator on my car. the parts store i bought it from screwed up and sold me the wrong one. getting the right on in a couple days, along with some new motor mounts

 

[iiiwildfireiii]

Well, lately I've been having quite a few issues with the 'clipse. First it started with no starts-to rough starts. After, waiting a few minutes, it then started perfectly. Next was the RPMs started dying out upon start and when sitting at stop signs. I adjusted BISS and that seemed to help the issue, for a while anyway. Suddenly the car takes forever to accelerate and 35% throttle to just go up a small hill. Next, the idle issue started coming back again, so thinking it was the ISC I unplugged it and readjusted the idle. Hey! That helped! ...for a while. Changed out my fuel filter. Didn't help one bit. Did a boost leak test. Found some, but nothing major.
Today, the Battery, Brake, and ANTI-LOCK lights came on. I know that a Battery, Brake, and Coolant light means the alternator is going bad but what about when its the ANTI-LOCK light? What the heck is going on with this stupid car? I know the volts are fine on it: 14.5 in idle and 14.3 with lights, stereo, brake lights and wipers on. So can someone PLEASE help me out with this??
Addional info: I'm replacing the thermostat. Its readings are erratic. Ranging from 82-205 degrees randomly. Timing is like 9-15 degrees at idle according to the logger. Also, my STFT is going from 3 to -8 at idle. O2 sensors are brand new and oscillating like normal.
Help!

 

[92awddsm]

Well, Let me break it down like this.
1) Coolant temp jumping around that much is generally caused from a failing coolant temp sensor. This can also cause hard starts and poor idle.
2) Dropping rpm's at a stop or decelerating is usually the fault of a failing/failed iac motor.
3) As yuo already know, the dash lights come on when the altenator fails.

Now, with all these problems happening at the same time and assumining that all the parts are funtioning properly, my first assumption woul be either a poor connection at the battery(mainly the ground terminal), loose or missing ground connection to either the im, tranny-body, or battery cable-tranny bell housing. If all those are good, the only thing else I could think of is a short in the wiring harness somewhere. Just remember, a digital ohm meter can be your best friend when troubleshooting a problem of this nature.

 

[iiiwildfireiii]

Well, I went outside to try and start my car, but it won't go. It cranks over strong but will not catch. Volts on the batter were still at 14.5. Can a coolant sensor throw off the car by that much? The engine was still at operating temps. Or how about a boost leak in the intake manifold? Say, the gasket? Keep in mind, the ISC is disconnected right now with the BISS screw adjusted so it idles at 850 (+- 100 or so).

 

[bjones18]

When I first start my 97 talon the battery & brake light come on dim. When I rev it above 3300 rpm they turn off and the car runs fine.

I have replaced the alternator a few times. I am assuming there is something telling the system not to charge... and then is over ridden once rpms go above 3300.

 

[90gst_sean]

I had the same problem after doing a head gasket on my 90 GST. One of the serpentine belt pulleys got put on back wards. It only pushed the belt travel off by 2/3 of a inch, but it was enough.

I first thought the belt was to loose, but after shredding two belts; I looked a little closer, and found the problem in the pulley.

Maybe your belt is to tight, to loose, a pulley on wrong, or could be the wrong / old belt.

Hope you nail it down soon, good luck.

 

[Talesin]

Might also check the power transistor, but a toasty alt sounds more like the culprit. My suspicion would be that you're running without your upper (and possibly lower) heatshield, which can (not neccessarily will) toast an alternator in less than a week. Unfortunately, I don't even know if you're turbo or not, as you haven't yet filled out your car profile.

 

[bjones18]

My harmonic balancer is bad. I'll find out if it is the cause.

(looking for squeak... watched balancer move in-out 0.25 inch on quick throttle) I freaked out cause I thought it was crank walk at first... then I noticed the center did not move.

 

[spcrxracer]

As the title says, My Brake, coolant, and battery lights are dimly lit when the key is in accessory position. They never come on again while the car is running.

Battery is new, alternator is new (both 3 days old).

Cleaned positive terminal/connector.
Replaced negative terminal.

Grounds look good.

Dealership did a full charging system test, came out ok (according to them).

When i turn the key to "ON/accessory", the lights light up properly (along with the 3 dummy lights).

I start the car. The 3 dummy lights (brake, coolant, battery) turn off and never come on again while the car is running.

 

[MrBoxx]

I'm only going to focus in on one aspect of your problem, since the others are a bit beyond my experience. Regarding the ABS light coming on after the car is started: Does it come on once the car starts moving, or do you start the car, the light blinks off, then blinks back on again without you moving? The reason I ask is that my ABS light blinks off after starting as long as I don't take my foot off the clutch in gear. If the car moves a certain distance, the light blinks back on and my brakes turn to regular brakes, not ABS. The dealership diagnosed this as a bad ABS module. I'm just wondering if this is the case with yours.

 

[spcrxracer]

I'm only going to focus in on one aspect of your problem, since the others are a bit beyond my experience. Regarding the ABS light coming on after the car is started: Does it come on once the car starts moving, or do you start the car, the light blinks off, then blinks back on again without you moving? The reason I ask is that my ABS light blinks off after starting as long as I don't take my foot off the clutch in gear. If the car moves a certain distance, the light blinks back on and my brakes turn to regular brakes, not ABS. The dealership diagnosed this as a bad ABS module. I'm just wondering if this is the case with yours.

Never really paid attention to my foot position in regards to the ABS light. I'll let you know and get back to you. I'm about ready to pull my ABS under hood fuse.

Oh, and my GSX is the same color & year as yours

 

[krummel21]

I just installed a water injection kit and I was out tuning the car. I had tuned for an hour or so that daythe next day I was out for 30 min before my first prob. On my run I added more timing and a floored it, 2 sec into my run my power inverter lost power and my computer shut off. Well right then my abs light came on but that was the only one on at that time. Also couldn't get dsmlink to find the port either until I got home and turned the car off.

Everything was fine for about 30 min of tuning I hit my blinker and my battery, brake, and coolant lights blicked with the blinker they also came on when I hit the brakes. My inverter kept overloading during tuning also. After this I did a run and had 11's. My lights starting staying on consitently I went out for another run and my a/f gauge was showing 12's. The weird thing is I didn't change anything and all my runs before this had showed 11's I zeroed the sliders and it still went in the 12's.

I went out this morning and the lights were everything looked fine the my inverter overloaded and the lights popped back on. Do you think it is possible that my inverter was causing a prob through the cigarette lighter? Why would my a/f gauge be reading 12, do you think my ecu isn't taking any info from dsmlink? I can log just fine.

thanks,
Krummel21

 

[toybreaker]

That sounds like an intermitent alternator issue.

On 2g's, the alternator has a control circuit thru the ecu.

How did you tap power and actuation signal for your new system? Is it possible that the ecu is having some difficulties with it's power supply due to your new toy installation?

Please check your battery electrolyte level, terminals, and alternator fuse. Please also check alternator charging voltage at the battery and back of the alternator.

Luv2rally is really good with these kinds of issues, hopefully, he'll be along shortly

 

[krummel21]

On DSMLink I have my temp gauge as my battery power and when the lights were off the battery looked normal. I had my inverter on and right when it overloaded for some reason the lights turned on and the battery level went all the way down to almost nothing. What about my a/f ratios do you think the ecu glitching or what?

 

[toybreaker]

I always try to create a separate power/ground circuits for my add ons.

Tapping other circuits can cause some really bizzarre, and hard to troubleshoot problems when the original circuit is starved for current or backfed something it's not equipped to cope with.

As a quick test, can you try another power/ ground routing?

Also, it would be a good idea to check the ground circuit at the battery. Make sure the ground is securely attached to a clean body grounding point, and the engine ground is secure as well.

Edit; On many cars, the instrument panel gauges operate on less than 12v's. They use a voltage stabilizer to keep the supply to the gauges at a constant, lower voltage, so voltage fluctuations in the cars electrical system won't affect the accuracy of the gauges. I don't know if that's the case with a 2g dsm, but I would strongly recommend against using a gauge feed as a power source. At the least, any additional current demand will create a voltage drop and affect the accuracy of the gauge.

Where is the power for the water injection motor tapped from? Some of those pumps can draw a pretty large start up current. This can starve a tapped circuit, and create some weirdness....

I would most definately fab up a relay for this circuit in the engine compartment, powered directly from the battery. I would also run a wire from the switched motor power supply (t87 on a bosch relay) to an led in the car to show system actuation...

 

[krummel21]

The water injection is hooked right on to the battery and there is a relay set up that is why I don't think that it is the water injection causing this problem. There any wires that are spliced into any wires just that one wire touches the batttery the rest it does on it's own. Thank you for the help.

Krummel21

 

[Defiant]

Those three lights mean the alternator is dead.

 

[jesterbot]

Yesterday, I noticed the brake light and battery light indicators come on. When I lift the emergency brake handle, the brake light get's brighter, but it's on even without.

Since things appeared to be running fine, I decided to limp on home and just watch things. I noticed before too long that my battery voltage (via. S-AFC) was lower than normal - around 12.9 or so (rather than my usual 13.8+ running voltage). Over the next twenty minutes on my way home, I watched the voltage slowly and steadily drop. It stayed pretty consistent until it was under 10v (when the Anti-Lock Brake light lit up), and then began to drop more rapidly. Within another 3 minutes, it had dropped to below 7v (where the SMS light popped on) but I was home.

I charged the battery last night, and started it up this morning. The operating voltage is about 12.4-12.5v, and the battery + brake light came on again. I only ran it for a few minutes and did not notice any significant voltage drop, despite being over 1.5v lower than normal.

Do these indicator lights imply a bad alternator? If so, how much should that cost, and how easy/difficult would that be to change myself?

Thanks Guys!!!

 

[Ultimatedsm]

Check your 100A fuse just incase if its blown. If that fuse isn't blown, get a Multi-meter and check if your getting the propery voltage to your battery (13.8-14.5V). If you see it dropping, check all your major grounds and wires to see if there correded or not. It looks like your voltage regulator took a crap. I recommend getting an alternator from Mitsubishi because they will last a long time. Rebuilt alternators last only 5-8 months for some reason. Check all your grounds first, than check your alternator again. Thats my best advice.

P.S: I been through so many of these alternators that I can pull one out and install one in 10 minutes flat.

 

[DanThMan1983]

brake light could be the rear ebrake hanging up or the cable is stuck and needs lubricated.

 

[Ultimatedsm]

It is his brake lights and battery light which indicates a charging problem. How do I know this? This happend to be several times already in the last 5-6 years.