skeetermb

Hi All,

Did some searching and couldn't find a match to this.

Does anyone know what this little rectangular light on the tachometer is? The one just under the "4"?



The issue is this blinks on and off, starting when you turn the key on, and continues once you start the car and during the whole time it is running. The clock and gauge cluster flicker faintly as it does this as well. Here is a brief video clip of it in action.



The car has been parked outside for the past year and not used. It did not do this prior to parking it. The battery was dead and we jumped it to start it, and drove it 40 miles back home. It did this the whole time home, and the car would miss badly if we gave it much gas, but ran ok at speed or moderate acceleration. I suspected bad alternator or connections to battery.
Since getting home, I put in a new battery and new battery terminals and checked wire connections to the alternator. The car will run if I disconnect the battery while it is running, so I assume the alternator is working. Voltage measured at the battery with car off = 14.2 v ,and car running (battery cables connected again) indicate voltage of 16.1 v. Seems right to me.

Anyone know what's going on here

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

leveling xenon headlamps issue... usually the little arm that sits on the rear control arm...

skeetermb

That was fast. I'm laughing pretty hard right now. We had the car up to finish putting the rear control arms on as we were trying to solve a rattle we heard back there, saw that little bracket and it was broken, so we removed it to see if it was the source of the rattle. Little did I know that would have this result. Just shows how you need to include ALL info when trying to trouble shoot something, no matter how unrelated it may seem.

So is it ok to keep driving it until we fix that? It won't hurt anything, will it?

PuReChaos

I assume you measured voltage at the battery with the car off literally after you turned the car off. Thats an above normal voltage that I assume is left over from charging. To get a proper voltage at the battery after turning off the car, turn the high beams on for roughly 30 seconds. Then measure. Also 16.1v while the car is running is NOT a good number. Charging should not exceed 13.5-14.5 volts. As you suspected, theres an issue with your charging system. This could be caused by the alternator not being properly grounded, though I don't think this would occur unless a rodent got to it. Since you already replaced the battery your issue probably lies within the alternator.

Also any rough driving conditions could be due to old gas if you didnt change the gas prior to starting it up after a year.

PFB

A note of caution. NEVER disconnect a battery while the car is running. You will almost always permanently damage electronic and/or electrical components.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

No big deal at all. I've had the same bar welded a few times on an RX. The IS300 guys found a way to 'reprogram' the car to ignore the feature altogether, since it's a part that goes bad all the time, with time...

hzt30

Yes indeed!
This was OK back in the old days but with all the electronics in modern vehicles, disconnecting the battery while the engine is running can be cataclysmic.

skeetermb

Really? I guess I'm too old to know about these new computerized automobiles.

Doesn't the alternator still provide the electricity for everything, even without a battery? I don't understand how it interrupts anything.

So if your battery were to go kaput while your engine was running, it could cause disaster?

Dang newfangled contraptions.

PFB

Here is a link that explains in plain English why a battery should never be disconnected while the engine is running.

Phil

http://www.troubleshooters.com/dont_...ct_battery.htm