# 86NA DashLight Problem with Videos, car runs fine, dash lights on.



## BoBakTXL (Aug 30, 2004)

My 86NA 5 speed z, is having a wierd problem.
went to start it, i turned the ignition to the "ignition" position, but didnt start the car and NONE of the lights turned on except the battery light, i was like wtf ok and i turned the key and the motor turned on quickly and perfectly like usual.
Now when the car is on, ALL the dash lights are on at ANYTHING above idle.
At idle, the battery light is on but VERY dim, and I hear a new whining sound from the engine bay from inside the car. The alternator has to be charging the battery because i drove it like 15 miles plus the voltage goes up when i rev the motor up on the volt guage.
At ANY other engine speed apart from idle, ALL the dash lights come flying on.
wtf is wrong with my car?
PLEASE HELP ME!!!
thanks

videos below:
both videos are in QUICKTIME format.
http://home.comcast.net/~bobaktxl/02-20-06_1612.3g2
http://home.comcast.net/~bobaktxl/02-20-06_1613.3g2

Also I turned off the car and took the key out the battery light stayed on, and stayed on. I turned the car on and drove home, took the key out, and now the battery light isnt on, I have NO idea whats going on.
I hope to god my alternator isnt going out?
thanks for the help


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## asleepz (Feb 24, 2004)

Sounds like bad grounds. Check all your battery wiring and grounding areas and clean them up. Also check your battery terminals.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Not the alternator, You don't have to worry about that. The alternator has no control ove the fuse box, which is where the problem likely originates. The fusebox under the hood probably either has a bunch of gunk in it, or maybe an insect. I saw what happened once when a bumblebee got into a fusebox and crawled between 2 fuses.... It was kind of similar expect the bee was a large enough electrical short that it took out the ECU. 

If nothing is immediately apparent, pull the box and check the wiring underneath. I took apart an old Chevy truck one time were the main fusebox got too hot, the wiring under it was one solid mass....


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## BoBakTXL (Aug 30, 2004)

alternator was the problem, replaced it, ALL lights gone, everything working normal, thanks,


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## AZ-ZBum (Nov 21, 2004)

BoBakTXL said:


> My 86NA 5 speed z, is having a wierd problem.
> went to start it, i turned the ignition to the "ignition" position, but didnt start the car and NONE of the lights turned on except the battery light,


Alternator.


BoBakTXL said:


> i was like wtf ok and i turned the key and the motor turned on quickly and perfectly like usual.
> Now when the car is on, ALL the dash lights are on at ANYTHING above idle.


Alternator


BoBakTXL said:


> At idle, the battery light is on but VERY dim,


Alternator


BoBakTXL said:


> and I hear a new whining sound from the engine bay from inside the car. The alternator has to be charging the battery because i drove it like 15 miles


You can go for hours on a fully charged battery.


BoBakTXL said:


> plus the voltage goes up when i rev the motor up on the volt guage.


Voltage shouldn't move at all with a properly functioning alternator.


BoBakTXL said:


> At ANY other engine speed apart from idle, ALL the dash lights come flying on.


Alternator


BoBakTXL said:


> wtf is wrong with my car?
> PLEASE HELP ME!!!
> thanks
> 
> ...


Yep. That's weird.


BoBakTXL said:


> I turned the car on and drove home, took the key out, and now the battery light isnt on, I have NO idea whats going on.
> I hope to god my alternator isnt going out?
> thanks for the help


Why? It's not that hard to replace.

BTW: Most auto parts places can check your alternator for free! Why didn't you do that first?


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## BoBakTXL (Aug 30, 2004)

haha yea, alternator fixed the problem for good!

ok but about a perfect alternator having the same voltage "all the time", the problem is, that whenever i step on the brake I drop a 1 volt, and whenever i turn on my mercedes benz 1300 CFM electric fan on, i drop ANOTHER 2-3 volts. I did a open circuit voltage test (OCV) and got the following results:
(I ran the headlights for 3-5 minutes with the car off to get rid of the "surface charge" of the battery)

Reading after 3-5 mins of headlight operation: 12.2 volts.
the state of charge of the battery: 45%
specific gravity of the battery: 1.190

I also did an electronic battery test and got the following results:
12.29 Volts.
918CCA, which is ALOT, since the duralast battery says it has 800 OEM.

We also did a battery load test (or capacity test) which loads the battery with 300amps of power for 15 seconds and got the following results:
9.8V
battery DID pass the load test, passing the load test needs a minumum of 9.6volts.

We did a Starter Motor Draw test (cranking voltage test), which you will need to disconnect the ignitiona and fuel system, and run only the starter for 15 seconds to see the amps it takes to run the starter motor and then the voltage drop afterwards, i got the following results:
117 amps 
10.9 volts after the test.

so yea, those are my test results.:fluffy:


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Actually I forgot about if the diode in an alt is burnt out, it will cause problems of that kind. The diode acts as a one way "check valve" allowing electricity to go one way but not the other. If the diode is burning out, it will allow juice to flow backwards, causing the battery light to stay on, even if the car is off. So......my bad.


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## AZ-ZBum (Nov 21, 2004)

under minimal load, you shouldn't see a huge voltage drop. The charging system was designed to actually charge the battery while idling with nothing else on. Once you start drawing a heavy load (lights, brakes, huge stereo, etc) then yes. The voltage will show a fairly significant drop at idle. The alt should have more than enough juice for everything at any reasonable moving speed. i.e. 1200 rpms and up. This is why the idle is supposed to jump up when the AC is turned on.


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