stvnmj

iTrader: (2)

So on monday my battery light came on on my 92 sc400 and would turn off while I was driving. Yesterday morning I took the battery to autozone to get it tested and they recharged it I took the car to work and the battery light came on right before I got to work then when I was on my way back home I had the batt. Light on and I also had my abs and traction light come on along with my stereo shutting off. What could cause all these other lights to come on? What should I look for when I begin to check it?

574-SC300

Get your alternator load tested on your car and make sure its putting out something close to oem specs. The crappy autozone test just says its basically putting power out. Your alternator may have a dead spot.

stvnmj

iTrader: (2)

Ok I will try that. I forgot to mention that my alternator is about 6 months old.

DRFT86

Yeah get it tested. If you have volt meter you can see what voltage comes out by hooking the negative lead from the tester to good ground, and the positive lead to the nut that tightens the harness. Usually alternators will give out more than battery voltage. Anything under 13 v is signs of it going out.

2JTsc300

make sure u have ur head lights on and other things that u normally have on while driving

WadeLovell

iTrader: (5)

If you have a spare battery, some of us do, now would be a good time to stuff it in the trunk. My recollection is, when my alternator was going out, the car came to a stop one evening while I was returning from Autozone. I dropped in the spare battery and made it home. Driving in the daytime uses a lot less battery than night driving.

Intrazel

iTrader: (1)

Battery light comes on if the voltage to the battery is to low, normal voltage for the battery when the vehicle is running is between 13.5v-14.2v , check it with a multimeter.

Sounds like the alternator but could also be a bad ground or loose connection to the battery, check your terminals and make sure they are tight.

WadeLovell

iTrader: (5)

Good point. I had not considered the ground.

stvnmj

iTrader: (2)

thanks guys for the help I will get on this tomorrow morning.

Han7

If you have the factory terminals still in the cables I highly recommend replacing them with new ones.

I had the same issue and it turned out to be both the alternator and battery connections

watkijam6

nut that tightens the harness...where is that located???

spoolxexo

iTrader: (4)

He's talking about the battery cable you bolt onto the end of the alternator.

You know, the lead that does the charging!

Tabaka

iTrader: (8)

Autozone and places like that don't know what the f*** they're doing. Seriously, never bring your car their and never let them touch your battery system.

I highly doubt your 6 month old alternator is already going bad.

Hil

iTrader: (61)

In case your problem hasn't been solved, I had similar issues in my older SC. My car kept dying when I was below 1k rpm, regardless if I fully charged the battery.

Turns out the PS pump was leaking fluid and the alternator is located directly under it, causing the alternator to go bad. I had the PS pump sealed up and got a new alternator and didn't have problems after that. My friend told me after the fact that if that is the case, the alternator can just be cleaned using brake fluid cleaner and a replacement is not necessary.

574-SC300

I agree with they don't know what they are doing. I have had several new autozone alternator bad out of the original box. They ship their alternators loose in the box without packing foam or etc., many get damaged in transit. Thats why alot of new or premium remanned units comes packed in foam.