lights on clusterf**k

[jhower08]

so today as i was driving home i looked down and realized that my parking brake, brake, and battery light were all lit up. so i pushed the clutch in and revved it and they got dim but then lit back up when the rpms settled. for awhile my battery light has been doing this but it wasnt even close to as bright as it is now. i was just wondering if anyone had this happen or if anyone has a slight clue on wtf is going on. i have an autox this weekend that is an hour and a half away and i really just dont feel too good about driving that far with my car being like this.

i attached a video so you guys could get a more clear idea of whats going on.

[backtrail69]

Got me stumped...

[JasonC]

I'd pull the cluster out to see if some thing shorted out in it.

[AndrewBird]

That is really fucking weird. Do what he said .^^^

[RobertK]

Hehe.. reminds me of Knight Rider for some reason.

[ibavarian]

Check how much your alternator is putting out..

[K-Swiss]

I'm going to say the alternator. Since my car did the exact same symptoms and then left me stranded.

[JGood]

Don't get to hung up on the alternator and go out and buy a new one or anything. Don't forget - the car is a wiring mess. I have a few spare alternators we can swap in to see if they help, but you don't show normal signs of a bad alternator. ALL of your lights would be dimming if you were having power issues.

Seems like a short in the cluster board, maybe even S.I. related. We can swap one of my spare clusters in, maybe that will fix it.

Shoulda called me man, I left work early yesterday and was at my garage all night, we could have worked on it.

[SpecM]

-MY car does this every now and then when I first start up, but I jsut cut the car off and re-start and it works fine then.

[JGood]

When you say the exact same problem, do you mean the exact same lights, or just the battery light? I ask because I'm curious of the circuit layout of that area of the board - there may be a common failure point.

Jason-
I can't see your video, my work computer has it blocked, but from the way you describe it, it sounds like all 3 of the lights in the bottom right corner are working in sync, and dependent on RPM. If it was just the battery light I'd be 100% sure it's power related, but for all of those lights to work together is kind of weird, seems like a short-circuit issue, especially since they get dimmer as RPM's increase.

[Garageaholic]

I would opt for a new SI board bc your AA batteries are probably toast and, like everyone said, shorted something out on the circuit board.

GOOD LUCK!

[jhower08]

thanks for all of the info guys, i didnt get around to doing anything about it yet. i have an extra cluster and alternator so ill swap both out and see if anything changes.

justin - i would have called you but i had to stop by my dads place last night and the car still ran fine so i figured id just tell you about it tonight before we go to pick up that car.

ill keep you guys updated...

[SpecM]

When you say the exact same problem, do you mean the exact same lights, or just the battery light? I ask because I'm curious of the circuit layout of that area of the board - there may be a common failure point.

-I mean that I have all of those lights on while the engine is running. They SHOULD be on during KOEO (key on, engine off), but should go out right after the engine is started.

[jhower08]

i just got back from my local autozone where i had them test my alternator. its only putting out 10v, and when i got in and started my car this morning it barely started. so im going to go swap alternators and see if this shit goes away.

[JGood]

i just got back from my local autozone where i had them test my alternator. its only putting out 10v, and when i got in and started my car this morning it barely started. so im going to go swap alternators and see if this shit goes away.

They probably want you to buy a new alternator so they just told you that. Those guys don't even know what an alternator looks like. I asked one guy for e-brake pads, and he didn't know what they were. That AutoZone went down the shitter when Tom quit.

Hopefully that's causing the problem, that's an easy enough fix. Be careful with your alternator bracket and adjusting nut, the teeth strip easy.