Chiefgmsr

My battery and ebrake lights came on a couple of days ago. Then i take it to the shop and couldn't start it up again. Ok so that sounds like the alternator and my mech and myself check it. Low and behold it's not feeding the battery. Next day installed a new alternator and the lights go out. On the way home the lights come on again. "What the HELL"? So now if i drive my car and turn it off the lights come on. If the car sits for like an hour the light don't come on. Does anyone have an idea?

185db

A lot of times when an alternator goes out it can take the battery with it. If the battery is old or if the car was driven with the bad alternator for a long period of time, then the battery may need to be replaced. Also check your grounds coming from the battery, on my 240 the ground of the battery grounds directly to the engine block. This as well as any other ground connections could cause erratic electrical problems. Even if you can’t see any corrosion it could be between the ground surface and the wire connector, it would help just to disconnect the ground wires that you find and clean them. It could also help if you invested in a ground wire kit.

Chiefgmsr

Wow thank you very much. I was thinking the same thing about the battery going with the alt. I just wanted to see if anyone else agreed. Some one on another forum also mentioned the ground wire cleaning. I just might replace the ground wires since they're not exspensive. Any Other opinions or suggestions????

namster180

Clarification, are both your ebrake lights and battery lights coming on eradically, or is it just the battery lights now? I've been having a similar problem, but I've yet to figure it out. Also you can take your battery to autozone or kragen's or whatever and they'll check to see if your battery is fully fuctionning for free. Just something you can cross off your list. But it seems that your battery is charging though.

Chiefgmsr

Both the ebrake and batt lights were came on at the same time. IT was the alternator. The 3 days that the lights were coming on I'm guessing the battery wasn't charging fully, but now after 3 days everything is fine.

phreze

Yeah my ebrake light comes on all the time for some reason.

185db

I'm glad I could help.

It is a good thing to remember after replacing the alternator dew to malfunction to allow the battery time to recharge properly. To do this effectively you need to turn everything off (A/C including fan, radio especially if you have external amps, headlights should not be on, and nothing should be plugged into the cigarette lighter) and drive around for at least 20 min to 1 hour, trying to keep your RPMs at around 2900-4000. You can also charge the battery before starting the vehicle after finishing the install of the new alternator; however this may not charge the battery to the desired voltage for the new alternator, and should be used in conjunction with the first method (only 10-30 min required this way).

Clarification: by ground wire kit I mean an aftermarket ground wire kit. Do a search on eBay for “Ground Wire Kit”. Getting one with a Stabilizer (capacitor) is the most effective.

185db

I too had this problem in my Civic Del Sol; I fixed it by cleaning the switch located under the emergency brake boot.

phreze

Thanks I will have to try that.

Chiefgmsr

You sound like an instruction booklet. lol. But yea I dont think I let the battery charge properly. So I think that why the lights were on for 2 days. Now everything is good and she starts up faster than b4. Thanks