Battery Light 97 Corolla

BROKENCRUZ

MEMBER
1997 TOYOTA COROLLA
FWD
AUTOMATIC

I have a 1997 toyota corolla, for the past 2 weeks my battery light comes on for a couple seconds and goes off all throughout the time I am driving it. Some days it comes on more than others and some it stays on longer than others. When the battery light comes on all of the other lights in my car (ie. Lights in the dash and headlights) get brighter as if power is surging in them and the horsepower my engine puts out gets reduced. When the battery light goes off the rest goes back to normal. We have checked the fluids and all are good, we have checked the battery and it is at 13.3 and the alternator is charging at 14.5. Does anyone have any idea of what could be causing this?

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Check the alternator charging when the indicator lights comes on. Symptoms indicates the alternator is failing with an likely fault of the voltage regulator inside it.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 AT 8:04 PM

BROKENCRUZ

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thats the funny thing, we had the car running for a good 15 minutes last night to try to check it when the light came on but the stupid thing wouldnt do it when we were waiting for it. Almost like it was taunting us because it knew we wanted to see it. So would you recommend changing the alternator now before it ruins anything else or just dies completely?

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 AT 9:17 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Before replacing the alternator, check the wireharness and connectors for contaminations and looseness. Ensure the alternator main post is secure. Symptoms indicates the alternator is overcharging rather than anything else.

Ensure battery terminals are clean and secure and check ground circuit connections.

Try turning all alectrical loads to check if the problem surfaces.

Give it another run and have a DVOM handy while driving. Connect the DVOM across the battery teminals to check the voltage when problem occurs. Turn on headlights while checking.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 AT 9:38 PM