Alternator??

[tomanique]

Coming back from Bellingham the other night I noticed the headlights (and the dashlights for that matter) were pulsing dim-normal-dim-normal for a couple minutes. Just as I pulled into a Chevron for diesel and a quick look, the lights seemed to start acting normal again. I haven't driven at night in Frankendeli for a while so I'm not sure if this has been happening for a while or not. The next day I was driving and noticed my "gate unlock" light on my dash pulsate a few times again. I've never had any other noticeable electrical or power problems and still don't. I was wondering if any of you techno-wizards have any ideas. You figure it's the alternator? Last time I had an alternator go was on my Datsun, and in that case I lost all power in a hurry. Thanks for any advice.

Cheers
Tom

[jessef]

Flickering dash lights are a good sign the alternator and/or batteries are going.

Quick voltage/a check will do the trick at any shop.

[mararmeisto]

I would agree with your comment about your previous vehicle obviously demonstrating a dead alternator by shutting down electrics in a hurry. Most experience with these vehicles seems to be a gradual decline with intermittent fault indications until the driver gets uneasy enough to have it looked at.

Read my post for further details, but off the top of my head, either alternator or a loose ground connection. Do you have an after-market radio? Some have reported problems with their headlamps because of where the DRL module has been installed (off the radio feed) or the radio has not been installed properly (which drags down the one line).

[marsgal42]

I had the bad alternator thing last winter. Worst time of year, though Gumdrop always started.

The symptoms for me were initially those of bad battery charging, with really laboured cranking. After the engine started the alternator would be reticent to go online unless I gunned the engine. You could see the idiot light, either fully on, on dimly with the other idiot lights, or out. It would often flicker at idle. A voltmeter confirmed the lack of charging. Toward the end the alternator wouldn't charge at anything less than 2000 RPM.

I measured 0.7 volts across the electrical system (e.g. across the cigarette lighter) with the ignition off. This sounded like a blown diode.

Japanoid fixed it. They rebuilt the alternator and Gumdrop's alternator once again alternates.

...laura