electrical problems. HELP!

[ibrahim83]

my car has been acting up lately. for the last week or so, and a couple of times a day, every electronic light in my car flickers really bad. headlights, taillights, instrument cluster and senter console lights dim badly.

performance is not affected by it. the car drives fine. this problem is only solved if i shut off the car and turn it back on. happens in daytime and nighttime. battery connectors are fine, nothing is loose.

when running, i get 14.1 volts, and 12.1 when the car isn't running.

i also suffer from the LBF problem, and i still do, but what's special about this is that i took out my HID's and they're been out of the car for the last 2 weeks, but i'm still getting a LBF message. all wiring seems fine. nothing loose or corroded.

i don't know if these two things are related, but i would REALLY appreciate ANY help.

Thanks. :)

[jgerry2002]

How old is your battery?

Have you checked voltage when the problem is occuring?

Sounds like a weak battery to me, though I guess it might be a voltage regulator. Either way it seems like you are not getting stable voltage.

-Justin

[ibrahim83]

well, according to my radar detector, which also shows voltage, when this was happening the voltage was the usual 13.9-14.1.

but what i forgot to mention is that today, and ONLY today, when this happened, i drove to the leasing office, wrote a check and went out to my car and it didn't start at all, it seemed like a dead battery, NOTHING was working.

then all of a sudden my alarm goes off sounding really quiet, everything comes back on, but the car won't start. went to the trunk, played with the wires, nothing happened, opened the hood to take a look, everything seemed fine. tried turning it over, nothing.

then i proceeded to call my brother for a jump, i hang up, and try it once more, and the devil turns over and everything is fine. it runs now, but i'm really worried.

it could be bad cells or something messed up internally in the battery, but i've never experienced this kind of failure. you can usually tell when the battery is dying.

oh, and this is stupid, i don't have my battery tied down, i took off the part that holds it in and lost it.

the battery seems to be new, being that it isn't exposed in the engine bay. but from what i recall, the battery died on the previous owner in 2000-2001 so i THINK i should just go ahead and replace it.

[DeanP]

I had a truck with some odd electrical problems, some that sound similar to yours. I found a battery post cable end that was deteriorating and not getting a good connection. You could have a battery cable connection some along the line that is not grounding properly.

[Balthazarr]

If you have a bungie cord or better, a tiedown strap for a temporary fix, it should work to see if battery movement is contributing to problem.
It will have to be tight to hold it.

[ibrahim83]

well, it just happened again today. :(

but i think i'm getting somewhere. the voltage showing on my radar detector was way off, going all the way up to 16.9 volts, which makes me think it's the voltage regulator acting up.

where is it located in the car and how much will i be looking to spend for it if it is the cause of my problems?

[Patrokloss]

the battery seems to be new, being that it isn't exposed in the engine bay. but from what i recall, the battery died on the previous owner in 2000-2001 so i THINK i should just go ahead and replace it.If your battery is in the engine bay, you have more than just electrical problems. :biglaughb

[ibrahim83]

If your battery is in the engine bay, you have more than just electrical problems. :biglaughb

:)
what i meant is, unlike other cars, you can't tell how old the battery is from looking at it, being that it isn't exposed to the heat, dust, and all the other crap that gets into the engine bay in other cars.

[tdwyatt]

This will sound totally stupid, but check the wiring harness in the shielded piece located in the left side of the trunk lid to body. The Point where these flex may break the insulation enough to begin intermittant problems with the entire electrical system as they cross-short circuits. Unplug the rubber grommet from the body and peel it back. If you have bare wires, this may be your culprit. Even if it isn't, fixing this may prevent a fire down the road. Solder the wires to assure good conduction, then cover the wires with either flexible painted-on insulation (home despot) and electrical tape or by slipping on some heat shrink tubing before soldering the wires together.

hth.

[Balthazarr]

VR is inside the alternator.
Actually you can pull the cooling duct and remove the mounting screws for the VR.
Ck the brush length. Should be 5mm.
Clean them up if length ok. Replace if not.
Might be diffiicult to find some so you may have to find a new VR or worse an alternator.
gl.