bluesnailhonda

Hi there,

This sympton started to show up in the last month or so. Every morning when I start the car the battery light will turn on for about 10-15min before it goes away. Soon after the battery light goes away, the ABS light, brake light and the "air-bag" light all turn on and off (not blinking) for a few minutes then go away. The whole thing usually takes 15-20min and the car is running fine other than that.

I'm going to go to Autozone to check my battery, but any idea about the abs/brake/air-bag light? One interesting thing is that they never come on at the same time with the battery light.

Would this have anything to do with this SUPER cold winter (I'm in Michigan)?

Thanks,

slowcivic2k

Do you drive a Chevy Lumina?

bluesnailhonda

My car is 2003 Civic EX by the way.

fcm

Any time you have intermittent electrical issues, the first thing to do is check/redo grounds, starting with the main grounds, [batt. to chassis, chassis to engine, VC to rad support and thermostat housing grounds] your problem is unlikely due to the above but should be redone, [disconnect/clean/reconnect] anyway.

For your specific problem you would chack/redo the dash harness grounds.

The brake light is turned on by the brake light switch and the brake fluid level switch, [grounds] the ABS light is turned on by the a 12V+ from the ABS indicator circuit and the SRS, [air bag] light by 12V+ from the SRS indicator circuit, the batt. light is turned on by a kind of a ground, [no power on a power lead].

It can be a ground unrelated to the above lights or a common ground, either of which may be bad and causing a feed-back. 94

DCFIVER

Try tightening up the alt belt before you do anything else....

preludeNApower

That sounds like a very odd situation. Scan it for codes. What fcm said, I agree with everything.

Put a Meter on the battery when you start it up to monitor the voltage.

I know the abs and Srs will trip faults from low voltage, but will do it right away, not 10 minutes later.

Miguel613ekb18c

Check alternator voltage output
Blinking battery light usually means charging system, voltage regulator in alternator probably kaput

bluesnailhonda

Update:
1. Went to Autozone, checked battery -- battery bad; got a new battery then
2. The problem kind of remains. The battery light will turn on (not blinking) when I start the car after 6+ hours parking and stay for up to 10min before it goes away. I don't see the ABS/braking/airbag light on any more, though. Some told me that it was due to low battery voltage. Now maybe the battery is new so that the voltage didn't drop as fast as it did before even it is not being charged for 10min during driving. Not sure if it is true, but I don't worry about that for now as long as it does not come back.

Any hint how to check the ground connection? Also, how to "tighten up the alt belt"?

Thanks.

GSR_BUM

to check your ground connect, is to see & feel its loose from the both points of body and unit, any bad or loose grounds will make anything intermit. tightening your alternator, if im not mistaken you just loosen up the alternator and adjust the whole unit itself to add or slack tension