Just recently my headlights have started to dim whenever i'm at a stoplight (around 600 rpms). when I put the car into park, the RPM go up a few hundred and the lights get back to normal. If I drive around for a while, the radio will start to reset and the interior lights will begin to flicker. I've had ghosting problems before, but this is getting ridiculous.

Any suggestions on what can be the culprit? Alternator? Weak battery? something else?

Thanks!
nick

 

In the alternator, case will get extremely hot after you drive around for about 15 minutes.

 

Check out the battery connections visually and use a voltmeter and see if the fault is from your battery. Check your alternator also.

I had a ghosting problem but found out it was due to gassing from the battery. It made my positive terminal all blue. Used some baking soda and hot water. Then, coated the terminals with battery grease.

Look at the alternator and see if there is any leakage from p/s to the alt. There have been several postings about this if, you don't know about it already.

 

thanks for the replies.

I just noticed that sometime my steering wheel doesn't go to it's orginal position when i start up the car. any new ideas? is there a such thing as an alternator ecu?

i checked out the area under my p/s pump a couple of weeks ago and it was greasy. i cleaned up the grease and have noticed no new grease, so i don't think it's the p/s pump (sometime i wish it was so i would be certain of the problem).

When I got my battery a year and a half ago, i greased them up. I think i'll go ahead and re-clean them with baking soda and water. Unfortunately i don't have a voltmeter available, if i can get my hands on one, how many volts should i be reading?

 

12 if car not running, about 14.7 if it is. Electronics, esp solid state electronics, do very funny things when not rcving rated power.

 

Your steering wheel not returning to the original position is probably due to a drop in voltage. If your battery is getting weak enough, the voltage will drop low enough during cranking to cause the tilt/telescopic position memory to be lost.

 

You haven't mentioned having any trouble starting/cranking the car which tells me that nothing is wrong with the battery or its connections. That would mean that the battery is being recharged but to a lower voltage than normal.

Battery terminal voltage should only be measured under load, say all the parking, headlamps, highbeams on. Voltage will vary depending on the dominant outside temperature. If I remember correctly higher terminal voltage in colder weather.

But again, you seem to have enough battery charge to crank the car....

Indicates to me that the alternator output is not up to snuff except at higher engine speeds. A shorted diode (one of three phases) in the alternator would "drag" down the entire system voltage at low speeds but at higher speeds would still charge the battery. Alternator case would get extremely hot.

 

It is possible to have a high enough voltage to crank the engine and start it while still being low enough to cause problems with the tilt/telescopic. Think of it as a first indicator of a problem.

 

i would have to agree with the statement above.he seems like he might know something about cars but doesn't he have a ford mustang or a chevy truck?