for some odd reason the battery light stays on when the car is running (all of a sudden when i was driving down the road and had like a power failure, system and everything turned off for like 2 seconds then resumed to normal but the battery light magically turned on, why is this? p.s. it goes off when the car is turned off.


also what does it mean when the a/c is blowing warm? its off the topic but its a pain as well down here in florida when my car has been sittin in the sun for seven hours while im in school ? does that mean the compressor is going or needs some type of fluid or something? also i noticed it has been giving out a lot of water through the drain tube. (seems more then most should.)

thanks a million
tom-e

 

I don't know if this relates to your problem.. but when my sisters alternator died on her car she said the battery and other lights on the instrument panel would either illuminate or flicker.. and when the car was about to die (when the alternator finally failed n left her stranded) all the lights came on a couple mins before the alternator just quit and it used up all the reserve power in the battery... don't know if this relates to your problem..

since her alternator died and it drained the battery down to nothing and the car shutoff... she called ME (wtf?) so I had to drive out there to sum intersection and call for a tow truck and everything for her...

her batt was dead she couldn't put on her hazards or anything so it must have sucked for her while waiting Lolz... I got behind her car and put on my hazards while we waited for the tow truck and turned the wheel to the side.. so in case my car got slammed in the back.. it wouldn't rear end hers.. and since it was rush hour (ppl gettin off from work) I heard just about every curse word you can imagine inconsiderate *** people.... as if their cars wouldn't ever break down or anything...

you can try going to autozone or Kragen/Checkers/Schucks and have them load test your battery and charging system.. its free for the check.. and if you need a new battery or alternator you can buy it there and solve your problem..

the A/C blowing warm could be a lot of things.. could be as simple as low on refrigerant and needing a recharge.. or could be something like a leake in the system, busted compressor or other a/c components.. its hard to say... take it to an A/C shop to get it tested...


[Modified by GSRaCeRbOI, 7:11 PM 9/24/2002]

 

Hmm.. If I were you.. I would first off check to see if the alternator is working correctly. To do this.. You can try the ghetto multimeter way. Park your car infront of a wall or garage and leave the engine running. Turn on your headlights. Now with the headlights on, press the power window switch and open and close the window. The lights should dim a little, and as you let go of the switch, the lights should brighten back up. Kind of ghetto, but works.

But if you want to take a crack at from a technician's point of view. All you have to do is first check to see if your alternator is working. To do this. Take your trusty multimeter and set it to measure at least 20volts. Now take the black lead and ground it, and take the red lead and stick it at the connection point where the alternator has a wiring leaving and coming into negative terminal of the battery. You should read something like 14.6 volts or so. If that's your reading, move on. Now you'll have to move the red lead and stick it into the same wire just before it reaches the negative terminal on the battery. You should get the same reading as the first on plus or minus 1/10th.. If there's a big drop, the wire is bad. Now if your first reading didn't read 14.6volts or so, check to see if the, I believe green wire, wire connecting the rectifier to the voltage regulator is grounded. By that I mean, hitting the ground before it's destination. But if that's not the case either, it has to be your diodes in your rectifier. That's all I can think right now. It's a lot easier when the car's infront of me. Hope that helps..

 

dunno bout the battery....but my old car blew warm air.....try to get cheap stuff like recharges...then if that doesnt work its almost always a compressor problem which can cost around $1000 for parts an install