Thread: Battery Light/Parking Brake Light Came On

The short story:
The Battery light and parking brake light came on and are not going away.

The long story:
Yesterday after work I was going to my car and I was able to use the remote to open the doors but when I got in to start the no lights came on.

This has happened before, my positive and negative terminals are not in the best shape. I popped the hood and moved them around and that fixed that problem.

I then drove the car home and to the Gym, no problems whats so ever. About two hours later I come out and start the car. I notice that the battery light is on. The parking brake light was on because I actually use the hand brake you know , well I take the parking brake off and the light dims a little but still stays on!

I tried disconnecting the battery, leaving it off over night etc. The lights are still there.

I checked the brake fluid, everything was fine. I checked the terminals and they were fine too.

Things I noticed that were acted different:

• When it was dark, and the car was running with the lights on, I noticed my AC/Vac lights kinda dimmed a little bit then got brighter then dimmed again.
• The car doesn't warm up all the way, it stays a bit below the warm up usual mark
• Idle doesn't go to 750rpm, it sticks around at 800-900 RPM
  

I have a feeling that my Alternator could be dying, and the battery is not being recharged. I replaced the battery in November/December.

I don't really have anything that could just drain the battery, everything electrically is stock, only running Polk audio system with no sub or amp, and a Sony head unit.

Any ideas?

Alternator.

I didn't bother to read the whole story.

All I had to see was the battery gauge and the parking brake gauge light up, and know it's the alternator. Same IDENTICAL thing happened to me. My wife had to follow me home, and jump my car off about every 5 minutes.

Are your belts on tight? The belts on one of my friends car were loose and those 2 lights came on. The funny thing is that it wasnt squealing like you would expect it to. In my old B14 when my alternator went out those same warning light came on. Definitely an alty problem.

Well thats why I have the short story and the long story

I guess thats like the warning light for it dying



My belts squeek a lot, but they usually do it when its cold, and they did it for the last year and half that I've owned the car...

I'm pretty sure its the alternator also, but just wanted to double check

If your belts squeak, you must tighten. Come on, its common sense. Just like if you're hungry, you go eat

Haha yeah but its the sludge monster lots of things go wrong with it that I don't want to really deal with

I squeeks for a bit then goes away, I hate working on that stuff outside in the winter, but when it gets warm kinda forget about it

I'm thinking about a new alternator, but dang they are in the $200's before core...

Should I just get a used one? I would prefer getting it installed before monday because I'm going on a trip then...

???? Go tighten the damn belts now. If the lights go away then you dont need an alternator. if they are still on then yes get the alternator. Tighten the alternator belt first. It MAY be just the belt.

yo V. i know you have a digital volt meter. go check your battery with the car off. should be 12v or alittle higher. now turn the car on and it should be 13.2ish volts. if it reads any less than 13v with the car running go to a parts store like advance auto and have the alt checked.

Will try after work, hopefully she will make it home



Sweet thanks a lot man

Hey V,
Im surprised that you let this go for a year & half.. Like Classicaddict says: Have it checked at AutoZone. But dont buy an aftermarket alty if yours is bad.. Get a used junkyard oem one from a later model car. Will last alot longer.

But hopefully its just a cracked up or loose belt.. Its 60degrees in Harrisonburg today..
Not to cold to fix stuff!