# Odd Idiot Lights



## pappahuff (Aug 4, 2006)

I took my 86 n/a to a shop to have suspension work done, just shocks/struts and springs. They had the car about 3 weeks cause they were backed up at the shop. I picked up the car yesterday and noticed a problem with the digital dash and idiot lights. When you start the car, all the idiot lights are on like normal. Then sometimes they go off like they should and sometimes they stay on for a little bit and go off. Whether or not they are off at idle, whey I go to accellerate or rev the engine they come back on. 

Driving down the road I see from left to right: 
sensor, break, door, radiator looking thing, lights, windshield washer fluid.
Also, there is a little red light above the battery voltage readout that is faint at idle and gets brighter when the rest of the idiot lights come on.

The shop claims they didn't even unhook the battery. Today I unhooked the battery while eating lunch. It sat for proly 20 mins unhooked. I reattatched it and started it. The same problem occured. I thought that maybe unplugging it might reset something. It drives and runs fine, just lights up like a christmas tree. What might cause this?


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## TAZTECH (Sep 30, 2006)

TAKE IT BACK! YOU"VE BEEN HAD>


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## TAZTECH (Sep 30, 2006)

they screwed with your car. What was it doing there for 3 weeks for springs n struts any way? NO shop is that busy.


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## pappahuff (Aug 4, 2006)

*useable suggestions*

They are friends of mine. And yes, it is a completely reputable and professional shop. They had it originally because I wanted it ready for an autocross event but I got the dates wrong. Then my moms jeep parts came in and it NEEDED repaired because she's been driving a van that needs a little work and wasn't the most reliable. On top of that, my buddy's S-10 lost a water pump and he was driving my geo prizm and when he finally decided to cough up the cash to fix his truck, I wanted my geo back because it's a liability to let someone else drive your vehicle all the time. So.....I had them put his truck in the shop on the day they had my Z scheduled. 
They really were that busy, I was out there all the time because of my moms jeep, dropped off our boat they bought, dropped off my buddys s-10, picked up my buddys truck. 
What I am wondering, since they didn't even unhook the battery, has anyone ever had the idiot lights act in this manner and what caused it? If the shop did do something, like bump a wire, what wire could it be? I am taking it back out to them, but seeing that they are not a nissan specific shop and our cars are "special" to say. Maybe I could help point them in the right direction, or just fixit myself.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

I can't really say anything for sure without knowing which idiot lights are on. This could be something as simple as a loose wire under the hood somewhere. Maybe a wire on the alt got knocked loose or the fuse box got knocked around, both are right around where they would have been working.


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## pappahuff (Aug 4, 2006)

*which lights*

From left to right, on top of the digital dash. 
sensor, break, doors, radiator fluid, lights, and winsdhield washer fluid are the lights that come on. They go off and on and dim and bright depending on engine speed and accelleration. There is also a little red square above the battery voltage read out that brightens and dims with the rest of the lights. 
It seems that, since I have driven the car about 30 miles and started it several times since picking it up, that there is nothing actually wrong with the charging system. I'm hoping this is some loose wire.


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## zfreak31 (Aug 22, 2006)

It's been awhile since it happened, but I had an alternator that was pushing too many amps, a wire had come loose in it. All the lights on the digital dash where coming on too. When I would drive it at night, the lights (even on dim) where bright. On the charging it done great, but with all the lights coming on, I changed it before I had any serious problems such as blowing bulbs and things like that. Once I changed it, no more lights (except when something is wrong).


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## pappahuff (Aug 4, 2006)

*Other Information*

Today, while driving to school, I tried to use the dimmer switch to dim the dash lights. It successfully dimmed the regular dash lights until almost not visable. The idiot lights stayed bright but I believe they should be brighter, assuming they would come on correctly during normal conditions. Hmmm


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## pappahuff (Aug 4, 2006)

*another idea*

I called the shop that put the suspension on, bare in mind, they are friends. The Ben suggested that I have the charging system checked. Said something about AC current wave. Alternators make alternating current and is converted to DC current the car uses. Supposedly if the conversion has any electrical leak it makes the car do wierd things. Such as extra lights coming on at wierd times, odd idle, eratic accelleration, battery discharge, and many other quarky events. Who knows, off to autozone after class to get it checked. Haven't had much luck with the free evaluations at parts stores though. Might take it to a shop. 
On a good note, my new suspension is friggen awsome.


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## Z812 (Dec 12, 2004)

did anyone ever come up with a solution to this problem as I am having the exact same issue. Oddly enough I had a new suspension added also right be4 the trouble started.


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## AZ-ZBum (Nov 21, 2004)

there is a charging issue. likely a bad alternator or wiring issue.


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