Ever since I bought my car, Ive always had a problem with the lights dimming and then going back to being bright. Itll happen all the time. I had the car for 5 years already, same alternator, same problem for 5 years. The car works fine, the light dimming bugs the hell out of me though. What do you guys think it is? I was thinking voltage regulator.....

 

does this happen randomly or when you apply a load to the car? such as when you lower/raise the windows. if it's random i'd say just replace the alternator. someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm not sure you can just replace the voltage regulator. i think the whole alternator has to be changed.

 

Umm. Drive it over to me in Daytona, and I'll figure out what hte deal is.

 

It just happens randomly, the lights would flicker between bright and dim. I dont have subwoofers or anything really that would draw alot of power.

AutoZone sells a voltage regulator for the car, but it costs more than the alternator they sell.

 

is it slow?...rapid?....rythmic?....rpm dependent?
i had (have)similar prob....at night with hedlights on and wipers and blinkers
at night i can tell better up until @3500 rpms the lights are dim...after that the lights get brighter as rpms pass 3500
but i had Pruven do my swap and they hacked my PS line from the pump to the rack
the cheap clampthey used came loose and shot PS fluid all over my engine bay and the line seemed to be pointing right at my alternater

 

No rhythm to it. I know it does it when the car is at idle, I dont really pay attn to it while im driving. I dont know if it does it when I rev the engine Ill take a look and see. I got to do it at night though, its too bright in Orlando during the day time.

Sometimes it does it fast, sometimes slow.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by noz79 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No rhythm to it. I know it does it when the car is at idle, I dont really pay attn to it while im driving. I dont know if it does it when I rev the engine Ill take a look and see. I got to do it at night though, its too bright in Orlando during the day time.

Sometimes it does it fast, sometimes slow. </TD></TR></TABLE>

probably noticing it when your radiator fan kicks on, aka more load is put on the electrical system.

 

i had the same problem, i would be driving at night and the lights would always been dim, both the dash and the headlights. ever so often the headlights and dash lights would get real bright for a brief second, sometimes several seconds, and then right back to dim. i physically did nothing different but it would happen anyways. i had the alternator checked at advanced auto and my alternator was ok, but it wasnt up to par, putting out 50 of the 70 volts it was suppose to. i replaced the alternator and now the problem is completely gone and hasnt happened since

 

I have had the same exact problem with my car since day 1. It's totally random too, you'll just be driving in 5th gear and all of a sudden your panel lights will just dim. I have a volt gauge in the car for this reason. My volts will fluctuate between 12 and 14 volts when it goes crazy. I seem to notice the problem more so on windy days. Normally my volts stay at 12 though. I thought it was a grounding problem so I bought a new ground wire and that did nothing. I think it has something to do with the alternator but since it doesn't bother me and I haven't had to replace the battery for awhile, I just leave it.

 

The last two guys on here know exactly what Im talking about. Im just going to replace the alternator. I really do think its the voltage regulator.

<U>92 hatch</U>
With the fan kicking on I would think it would be a constant dimming, then the light should go back to bright for awhile while the fan is off. It happens all the time though even in the morning when I first start it up. With the fan on or off.

 

check ur battery also.. for corrision.. and conections.. cause a battery helps supply some power to the lights etc..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by noz79 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The last two guys on here know exactly what Im talking about. Im just going to replace the alternator. I really do think its the voltage regulator.

<U>92 hatch</U>
With the fan kicking on I would think it would be a constant dimming, then the light should go back to bright for awhile while the fan is off. It happens all the time though even in the morning when I first start it up. With the fan on or off. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, just check everything and make sure before hand. Its rather exspensive so take a wire brush or a dremel and clean all of your ground contact areas really good, and take it to autozone or advanced auto they have a machine they can wheel out and connect to your battery and check the alt. and battery at the same time and its free, if its putting out less than 70 amps then you need to replace it