Dimm battery light????

**stiofansisland** · by **stiofansisland** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:21 pm

hay guys got a kinda strange 1 4 ya.... my calibra's been sitting for a bit and not the car staarts fine but the battery light is kinda half on and flikering slightly... the car b4 startup reads 11.5 volts and on idle reads 14.2 and the battery is being charged fine!! iv tryed a jump lead from the battery to the engine in several locations but no differance... iv cleaned all the connections i can think of so im kinda stumpd..

i would consider myself a comptant sunday mechanic.. but cant figure it out..

reading 14.2 volts but the battery light is half on??? i would guess its an earth from wher ever the batterylight is connectd to? so any1 know where that is or have anyother ideas!!??

thanx steven

**wantredtop** · by **wantredtop** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:37 pm

im no mechanic ... but i had this problem or similair and it turned out to be my alternator - again the battery appeared to be charging fine

**Jonesie** · by **Jonesie** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:51 pm

Have you checked the earth strap between the battery and the body? I had the same problem with a Vectra, turned out there was some corrosion that wasnt enough to break the circuit but not quite clean enough to complete the circuit fully

**stiofansisland** · by **stiofansisland** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:15 pm

Jonesie wrote:Have you checked the earth strap between the battery and the body? I had the same problem with a Vectra, turned out there was some corrosion that wasnt enough to break the circuit but not quite clean enough to complete the circuit fully

well havent taken it off but i stuk a jumplead from the negative of the batt to the engine and even to the altinator earth but still no change!!

thats why im stumpd!!

Calibra_Mike · by **Calibra_Mike** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:57 pm

I take it you're on about the battery light on the dash? you sure the buld isnt going, they dont last forever? either that or a loose connection? does sound strange if everything else is working ok and the battery has plenty of power...

**stiofansisland** · by **stiofansisland** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:56 pm

Calibra_Mike wrote:I take it you're on about the battery light on the dash? you sure the buld isnt going, they dont last forever? either that or a loose connection? does sound strange if everything else is working ok and the battery has plenty of power...

YEH THE BAT LIGHT ON THE DASH, NA ITS NOT THE BULBE COS IT COMES ON FINE WHEN IGNITION 1 CLICK, ALSO THE SECOND HANDBRAKE LIGHT IS THE SAME NOT SURE WOT THAT ACTUAL LIGHT IS U KNOW WHE ONE THAT COMES ON BESIDE THE HANBRAKE LIGHT!! WHERE WOULD A LOOSE CONNECTION BE IV TRYED EVERYWHER I CAN THINK!!

WOT ELSE IS ON THE DASH LIGHTS CIRCUT?

barry_s · by **barry_s** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:21 am

Hm sounds like the alternator to me have seen the battery light come on dimly on my 16v and several other callys and Veccys and its normally that the voltage regulator on the alternator has gone. Test the voltage at the battery with a multimeter if youve got access to one. 1st with just the engine idling and then with the fan and heated seats switched on etc and if the voltage at the battery drops bingo thats youre problem. mine went from around 14v to 9v.

Hope thats a help

Baz

**stiofansisland** · by **stiofansisland** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:57 am

barry_s wrote:Hm sounds like the alternator to me have seen the battery light come on dimly on my 16v and several other callys and Veccys and its normally that the voltage regulator on the alternator has gone. Test the voltage at the battery with a multimeter if youve got access to one. 1st with just the engine idling and then with the fan and heated seats switched on etc and if the voltage at the battery drops bingo thats youre problem. mine went from around 14v to 9v.

Hope thats a help

Baz

kool i'll try that 2moro dus that mean new altinator or can u just change the regulator?..

the car had been sat 4 a bit and the volt meter was readig 9v so i jumpd it with another car but wen i disconect from the other car and it was idling the volt meter was reading 16v so i thought the battery was fekd and i chukd it.. would that confirm the voltage regulator?

ta steven

barry_s · by **barry_s** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:26 am

Hi

That definatly sounds like the voltage regulator best thing to do is get it tested and get a new alternator mate. If you keep running the car with the dodgy alternator it can kill the battery too.

Baz

**stiofansisland** · by **stiofansisland** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:23 pm

ok still cant figure this out guys! took readings with a multimeter ther and its 12.5 b4 startup and then 14.5 on idle but still the baterylight is dimm and flickery!! checked all earths and posatives from battry and onto engine and from altinator!! but everything seems fine.. so dus any1 know where the batterylight on the dash gets its readings from or where its earthed 2 plzzzzzzzzz just want this sortd!! :cry:

Robs-se · by **Robs-se** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 2:28 pm

Deffinately the alternator. i had to change mine when it did this, or it could be the bushes are worn on the alternator contacts.

Rob

**calibracookie** · by **calibracookie** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:49 pm

Id go for the regulator, not sure if u can replace em on callys but had the same thing with my old golf gti, u could just replace reg on them n its easy to do it fixed my prob. If u rev the engine at 2000rpm wots the voltage on at the battery?

**Rusty_CallyT** · by **Rusty_CallyT** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:30 pm

if it gets brighter as revs increase its the reg pack on the alt and will need replacing before it does any damage

**MickM** · by **MickM** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:06 pm

It's a shame that there are not two lights; one to show when the batt voltage was higher than the alternator and one to show when the alt voltage was higher than the battery. That would give you more of a clue. If you've got a multimeter you can check it yourself though...

Dimm battery light????

Dimm battery light????

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