bigfishmoney

Whenever I utilize my brake pedal the instrument panel lights for instance lose power and dim quickly and return to operation, this happens within .01 seconds(this dim). this is more apparent at night when the instrument cluster is illuminated.

can anyone give me a hint as to what could be causing this?



and finally,

my car fully shut down at a red light that I pulled up to when coming to a stop.. though my car started up right away, but this leads me to believe its cause of a voltage surge of some kind causing a fuse to trip. my high beams lose power for .01 seconds as well when moving over to high beams. so there is a electrical surge happening wanting my car to die.



my battery is pretty old but electrical power seems constant as far as generator is concerned so can't be the alternator..



does anyone know what I mean when holding down the window switch the battery and the cars instrument panel dims dramatically, especially if held in? try flicking the high beams on while holding those buttons down to test the cars electrical capacitance..





I recently replaced a faulty turning signal assembly, matches my cars make, I didn't take it out again but maybe it fixed it? I don't know the exact procedure when installing a component of that kind.

bigfishmoney

Is pressing on the brake and noticing the instrument panel bulbs go black for a split second a problem with THE BATTERY?

2FastElantra

My car was just doin the same. But it was more like it would go dim when I'm not gassing it and the car wouldn't start if I cut it off. When Using the brakes and other stuff the interior lights would go dim for a second. My battery was bad and i replaced the alternater not sure if it was bad the lady at Autozone dropped it so went ahead and replaced it. I would start with the battery.

bigfishmoney

Okay.. I'll check it right away and see if I can get a Yellow top.

Stocker

The alternator has an automatic voltage compensator built in to it. When voltage in the electrical system drops, the alternator automatically increases its output. It could be what you are seeing is normal delay in the voltage regulation under a heavy electrical load, and it could be a bad alternator, or something else altogether. You might want to get the alternator checked.

pas1216

Alternator and battery. Get them both tested. DO NOT buy an autozone alternator they are crap.

Red Raspberry

It's the alternator. When the car is running it should be supplying all the electrical power at a voltage that is 2vs higher then when it isn't, 12v battery vs 14v alternator.



If you drive long enough on a low performing alternator say one that puts out 13.5v then it will drag the battery down with it and they both will need replaced.



The other possibility is corrosion in the wiring that is limiting the alternator to electrical system to battery circuits.



What is the running battery voltage with the lights on?

majik

I agree. Likely the alternator. Alternator could cause battery to go bad. Test alternator first, if bad replace, then evaluate battery.

wheel_of_steel

The last four topics BFM has made:



-having electrical problems

-weird electrical issue!

-where to buy instrument panel/dash lights

-engine coolant temp sensor stuck!! help!!



My best advice would be to do a cheeky insurance job on your current tib, or something. Replace it with a tib that won't randomly burn to the ground due to electrical issues.

bigfishmoney

oh.. well I bought it about brand new, wheel_of_steel

ppl that think they are gods gift to mechanics make me laugh

but I did buy it with my own $ out of my pocket but thanks..