Hey guys, need quick help before I spend. I drove my car this morning to drop off my wife to work, no problems whatsoever until I got back home to park it. While I was going on reverse I noticed my stereo would go in and out, and only the sub have a sound, a very dim and light sound, almost inaudible. Then I saw my ABS light turn on. When I finally parked my SC on the spot, I tried to fix the radio, I turned it off hoping it would reboot itself, but when I was turning it on again nothing happened, It wouldn't turn on anymore. I revved my engine and noticed all the interior lights would dim big time. I tried to shift the shifter to Drive but now it wouldn't budge from Park. I was depressing my foot on brakes and it wouldn't disengage from Park and move the shifter to Reverse nor Drive. I shut the engine off and tried turning it on again, and it wouldn't turn on anymore, all I'm getting is the starter sound(clicking). My alternator is 1 year old, so immediately checked my battery which I've had problems in the past when I got my SC a year ago. It only has 11.something volts. Could this be a dead battery problem? Does our SC's have some kind of limp mode for when it senses that the battery is about to die?

Again, symptoms are;
*ABS light on
*stereo shuts off sound on its own
*lights dimming
*shifter wouldn't shift
*car wouldn't start just starter clicking sound
*11.something volts on battery
*alternator 1 year old

Thanks guys, this car have fought me every step of the way, but I'm not giving up on this since its only giving me simple problems.

 

I had some problems with my 96 SC not shifting into gear. This happened when I replaced my head unit. Here is what I found and the remedies:

1) My break light FUSE was blown-- I guess this is some safety feature and the car will not let you drive unless the fuse was replaced.

Here is the link that shows a pic of the fuse box… https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...m-picture.html

2) The second time was when I had the middle counsel apart (to get to radio out) there was a wire that was bent a little (I believe it was a solenoid switch) this actually LOCKED my keys in the ignition and the only way I could get the key out way by disconnecting the battery. Later I found that while the key was in the ignition, I moved the wire I was able to unlock the key. IF YOUR KEY DOESN'T GET STUCK ITS PROBABLEY NOT THE SILONIOD WIRE.

Just a side note: Check to see if something fell into the cigarette lighter (like a penny or something metal) that will short out your radio fuse as well

 

is your p/spump leaking on your alternator? that will end one real quick. start the car and pull off the positive lead, that can factor out the alt. how old is the battery? water level?(if applicable)

 

Battery is from 2009. My cam seals are leaking, I checked my alternator 2 weeks ago when I did my oil change, it wasn't as covered of oil as when I got the car, and I changed my alternator from before even if there wasn't any problems. So I'm confident enough that my alternator is still ok. But how do you check it to make sure?

 

well if the cam seals are leaking on the alt it wouldnt take long to eff it. start your car, pop the hood, with the car started disconnect the positive lead on the battery. if the car stays running your alt is good to go. if it dies you know its bad.

 

Uhhmm... I can't start the car remember? Lol

What makes you think its the alternator?

 

find out what's ur parasitic draw. google to find out how to test it.

 

I'm getting confused, how'd you know there's a parasitic draw? And what makes poorsupra think its the alternator and not the battery?

 

well you said it started fine, then you drove it. then it died, now it wont start. seems as if the battery started the car and supplied the power the whole drive, then finally was drained because the alt did not do its job of recharging the battery and adequately running the car while driving.

 

Makes sense. My buddy had the same thing happen for the shifter where it wouldn't shift from Park, and turned out to be the alternator. Ok, let me check that right now and report back.

 

Anybody knows why would the ABS light turn on?

 

for whatever reason in the many instances ive seen alternators fail the abs light comes on, hondas/acuras are like this as well, learned from my roots. haha

 

Ok, I tried starting the engine, and it fired up in an instant like nothing went wrong. A few minutes later the engine started bogging down like its about to shut off, and all electronics like cluster and radio wouldn't turn on. I shut it off and car wouldn't turn on again. Battery still has 11.72 volts when I checked.

 

check alternator, The car draws its power off this when its driving. If it cranks and idles and doesnt shut off its good. Next check your terminals on your battery. If they are dirty or corroded it could cause those symptoms. Next thing to check would be the wires in the wheel well. If you relocated the harness already make sure you didn't stretch em or break one in the process.

if all this is ok, there may be a parasitic draw or maybe, just maybe your battery is effed up. If its warrantied take it back and get it replaced. Especially if you cycle it alot then it will break down quicker. I could explain the chemistry of why but most people dont understand it so i wont. Lastly if all else fails jumper your fuel pump ecu. The engine might not be getting enough fuel and shutting off.

Basically there is a whole cluster fu*k of problems that could go wrong. Makes me miss my old muscle car with like 30 wires...hahaha

 

Hey Mark, thanks for that wonderful insight. Now I realized I shouldve written everything. Anyways, I already did the 12 volt mod on it, terminals are great, like I said it started for awhile then started to bog down, wire harness is relocated and nothing was touched on it, the battery is out of warranty but it's getting charged right now.