Battery and brake light on at the same time, drains battery

ROSIEC

MEMBER
MITSUBISHI

1997 Mitsubishi Mirage 1.8. It all started when all the lights, heater and wipers will all dim out and loose power when running the car. I went to test the battery and they said it was my alternator. The altenator got changed and then the battery went dead and they told me after testing the battery that the battery was not good. Changed the battery with a new one. Then I noticed that when running the car the brake and battery lights will turn on and off at the same time. Car got checked again and they said the battery was bad, so I change the battery. After all this, the car was running ok, but again the brake and battery lights will turn on and off until again, after not running the car for 2 days, the battery went dead. They told me I got a bad alternator so again they replaced the alternator with another one. Car was running good and again the brake and battery lights will turn on and off. I ran the car fine until again after 2 days without running the car the battery went completely dead. What can it be? Is it a shortage? If it is, how can we test? Please advise. Thank you

1 Reply

BACKYARDMECHANIC

MECHANIC
337 POSTS

You will need a 12 volt test lamp in order to test for a short. Before performing the test you need to make sure that all the accessories are off, EVERYTHING. Also make sure you don't forget the hood light. Either disconnect it or remove the bulb. Now your ready to conduct the test. Disconnect the postive battery cable and connect the lamp in series with the battery. In order words one end of the lamp is connect to the postive of the battery, and the other end is connected to the postive cable. If the lamp lights up bright you have a short. If you get no light or a very dim light, there is no short.