Dash lightss blinks on and off

Tiny
ZEBRAS65
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 DODGE STRATUS
  • 3.8L
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 80,000 MILES
Brakes and battery lights comes on then goes off then back on again but wont't stay on until you can get to a repair shop plus the temp gauge elevates then levels out but car never overheats
Tuesday, January 5th, 2016 AT 5:35 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,742 POSTS
The first suspect is the alternator; specifically worn brushes. That is a factor of mileage, which you didn't list. To verify this you'll need to measure battery voltage while the engine is running, and while the problem is occurring. It must be between 13.75 and 14.75 volts. If the brushes in the alternator are worn, which is by far the most common cause of intermittent loss of charging, the voltage will drop back to close to 12.6 volts.

Worn brushes will be intermittent for weeks or months before the failure becomes permanent. The resulting low system voltage can confuse computers causing them to do weird things or shut down. That can explain numerous other systems that occur at the same time.
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2016 AT 8:55 PM

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