Dimming Lights

[thenewanomaly]

:chairshot: So im driving home from work the other night and i noticed that when ever i hit the brakes, the headlights and display in the stereo would dim. Please tell me its a bad Batt., i plan to go to AutoZone to check the alternator but i couldnt replace one of those myself, and its a bleep in the pocket.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Guys!

[amf1932]

I would check the battery at a place that has a load tester just to make sure the battery is in decent shape. Make sure that there is no corrosion on the battery posts also. I noticed this dimming on my '94 ES also, yet the battery tested OK and the alternator was putting out the correct voltage. When you hit the brakes a lot of lamps go on so there's quite a drain on the battery.

[SKperformance]

i tend to disagree amf

the battery is not used for running the car in anyway

remove the battery from the car running and the car should work fine still

the only time might be if there is a serious problem in the battery causing it to have a high amount of reisistance causing a load on the alternator that is not usually there.

i would say it is somewhat normal for the lights to dim but the stereo one not really

it is either the alternator is bad or you need to rewire the the contacts from thte battery to the body ground and starter

i did this and it resolved a few of my previously same issues

or the belt is slipping

but it more than likely is the alternator

which is a common problem ,toyota redesigned the newer ones with a smaller wheel to spin it faster at idle which the previous one had problems with

mine included,other wise it works fine until i am at idle

[SKperformance]

the alternaotr is also very easy to change one bolt which has to be uinlocked

lossens the tension on the drive belt

the other 2 bolts are removed and it slides up and out all done

can be done in about 25 minutes

working real slow

just disconnect the battery first

[amf1932]

If you have a simple volt-ohmmeter, you can do the following as initial checks.

The numbers below may vary from car to car, so I have indicated them as ranges.

With the engine running, measure the voltage at the battery terminals. If the charging circuit is working, the meter should read more than 12.6 V and should increase with more engine speed to a max of about 14.2 to 14.5V. If it's much less than that or greater than that, there is a problem with either the alternator or the voltage regulator.

With the engine running, measure the voltage from the alternator output post (B+ post) to the battery positive terminal. This should be 0.3V or less. Higher readings indicate too much resistance somewhere in the circuit or an alternator that is trying too hard to generate amps.

There are ways to test more, but require more equipment.

As I said in my previous post, I would check the battery first to make sure that it's in good condition!

I sorta disagree with this statement: "the battery is not used for running the car in anyway".

The electrical system in any car is usually a balanced affair designed by the manufacturer to give satisfactory performance under average driving conditions with the installed factory accessories. If all these parameters are met than you shouldn't have to change things such as, alternator pulley diameters, battery size, alternator size(output).

I don't like to "jump the gun". I like to do these initial checks first. ;)

[thenewanomaly]

Ok,...i think that i will bring her to AutoZone tommorrow morning and let them check the readings, they have the whole nine yards when it comes to equipment. And ill see from there.

Thanks everyone., for the help!

[thenewanomaly]

OK! the alternator is allright, i checked it today at autozone. they said it may be the ground wire. i looked down at it and it looks like it is connected to the chassis with like a male/female joint thing. anyone know if that is the problem or could it just be loose?

[SKperformance]

go to a stereo shop and they can cutsom make a new chassis ground for $15 at the most

and put it in

i changed mine as they were crap and breaking

helped a good bit

but the alternator has alot of problems mainly when the car is hot

rather than cold

which can be attributed to wires and still the alternator

as the engine needs to be run for a bit to get real hot under there and create extra resistance