slayerx02 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 This problem is intermittent so its hard for me to find out what exactly is causing it... I could drive the car an entire day and the problem wouldn't come up.... The battery indicator light comes up on two occasions... First is when the voltage gauge drops in the barely 12v range and all the lights (dash, headlamps) dims, when the engine's RPM are well above 2000~ the battery indicator light goes out but all the lights remain dim. Second occasion is the voltage gauge shoots up to the 18v+ range, battery indicator light comes up, all the dash lights and headlamps gets super bright. The battery indicator light remains lit when the engine's RPM are well above 2000~ it goes out when i throw the car into neutral and RPMs drop down below 1k; the volt gauge also drops back into the "normal" 14v range.... now the weird thing is...sometimes everything goes back to "normal" after driving the car around for a bit... Could this just be a simple problem of a bad alternator or could there be other components that needs to be looked at? I recently changed the battery thinking it was just way too old and it was throwing off the voltage readings, but the problem persists so now im thinking of picking up a new alternator to swap in...id like to do what ever i can first before i take it in a shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rathefeare Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Sounds like a bad voltage regulator in your alternator to me. The Autozone/Pep Boys type of stores in this area offer a charging system diagnostic that should be able to pinpoint your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Sounds like a bad voltage regulator in your alternator to me. The Autozone/Pep Boys type of stores in this area offer a charging system diagnostic that should be able to pinpoint your problem. ding ding ding! We have a winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerx02 Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 well thats good to hear then, seems simple enough to remove and replace with a new unit. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsbury Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I'd agree it's a regulator issue. I'd also add that you want to get that checked out as soon as possible - wildly fluctuating voltage like that is more than likely to damage something in the car, most likely the ECU... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slayerx02 Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 yeah i cant work on it for a couple more days unfortunately... when it goes into over voltage the ABS light fires up >.< so yeah hope i get to work on it sooner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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