Driving home today the check battery light came on twice within 2 minutes of each other, only came on for about 3-5 seconds. Didn't come on after that or before

It's been checked out with a multimetre and all seems fine, also the alternator was rebuilt last year.

So the point of this is "what else could be wrong?" :think:

:rant: Man tell me about it. The same sh*t happens with my KS.
Had the alternator checked and it was fine, they checked the battery it was all good and used a multimeter.
I notice this happens when my headlights are on.
The battery light will come on and the ABS light too. And my headlights and the dash lights seem to dim slightly.

Gives me the sh*ts.
Going to have to take it to an auto elec.
Need to get my radio fixed too cos everytime I turn the car on it asks me for a code. And my horn, that I just replaced, seems to work sometimes. But most the time it doesn't work at all. I think this is linked. Must be an electrical problem :cry:

Must be an electrical problem :cry:


:sook: don't tell me that

Mama http://foxtrotters.tripod.com/cry.gif

loose connections or wires earthing somewhere
also check bettery tremials
if the alternator has been rebuilt and the battery is good

I'll keep that in mind. Hope that's the problem :cry:

Do what Jellmag said. Also check that the alt belt is tight, if its slipping the light will go on and off. Autobahn has a load tester for the battery and will usually do the test for free.:D

Amazingly enough, check your fan belts.

I've had this problem on my TR, put her in for a service where they adjusted the fan belt and it goes away.

It does come back from time to time, alty's fine, battery's fine (it would bloody wanna be .. I only replaced it 2 months ago), so yeah.

Check that :)

Wish i'd said that. :P :P lol lol

Danm forgot about slipping belts :redface:

And here i was thinking i was the only one with this problem! My TS does the same but only after being in traffic for some time and doing start stop driving. The instrument panel and dash clock dims the radio lights dim. But then mysteriously disappears. All voltages are good, no loose belts and no loose terminals from what i can see. I think it may be a feature rather than a fault with the Magna!!

on the back of your alternator there is a small black box, bout 35mm x 15mm. this is your voltage regulator, it tries to maintain consistent charging voltage approx 12V-14V. When its on its way out it doesnt work as well resulting in inconsistent lower / higher charging voltages. when charging at a higher voltage you wont know, but lower the light will come on. I had this problem and got another regulator from a wreckers. They're about $60 new (considering a brand new alternator, which includes the regulator, is bout $150 thats pretty high). i paid $2 for it.

Overcharging is a problem and can cost you big $$$ if yur unlucky....Boiled batteries, burnt out ECU's / electrics. Best to look at it asap.

Its 2 bolts and the clip where the cable joins onto it. will take you a couple mins to change.

95% sure this is your problem, i had the same thing and it got progressively worse.
Also it makes perfect sense its more frequent when your lights are on as they draw a fair bit of power.

I'm with Matt, same thing happened to my TR EXACTLY the way you described it and it was the regulator on my alternator.

the same thing (battery light comes on occaisioally) happens on my TR, i'll check my belt tensions tomorrow and spray some 'belt grip' on them.
if it gets worse i'll look at getting a new voltage regulator, or maybe getting one from the wreckers (but coming from wreckers, it might be just as bad as the one i already have)

the same thing (battery light comes on occaisioally) happens on my TR, i'll check my belt tensions tomorrow and spray some 'belt grip' on them.
if it gets worse i'll look at getting a new voltage regulator, or maybe getting one from the wreckers (but coming from wreckers, it might be just as bad as the one i already have)

the cost of "belt grip" might be the same as a new belt
allways get the new belt

there is a can of belt grip sitting in the shed, so i may as well use some. can only help i guess.

Yeah the voltage regulator sound like the problem. There is also a plug that fits into this that could have a faulty wire connection. This wire just tells whether the dash light should come on or not (to put it in basic terms) so if that is faulty then that accounts for the light.

The battery terminals are a big point to get right, cleaning your battery terminals alone IS NOT good enough (over time that is).

Ok, so the terminals may be clean, but what about the wire that fits into the terminal? The inside can corrode badly. Take the terminals off the battery (only do one at a time so you don't mix them up!) and unscrew the female terminal screws and look how corroded it is on the inside. Sand the terminal, and for the connecting wire get a small spice jar, like a masterfoods jar (the narrow ones) and fill it with vinegar (proper vinegar, not the 30% coles mix or asian vinegar, which isn't vinegar at all). Put the terminal wire in it and leave it for 20 mins or more, wiggling it occasionally. Leave it until the wire is nice and clean and shiny! (maybe an hour!) Don't leave it overnight! You can clean the terminal in vinegar as well.

Rinse the terminal wire well, and put back together, then work on the positive terminal. The inside of the terminal wires was a problem with mine, as well as the wire on the alternator, and fixing both of those completely fixed my problem!

Remember that each device on the car has a wire to positive, but all the negative to complete the circuit goes back through the car frame and eventually to the wire that connects to the battery. Its imperative to have both these terminals perfectly clean for best results. The terminal/wire connections are overlooked all the time!

I've had my TR for about 6 months now and haven't had to spend any money on it apart from maintainence.. you all suck.

I've had my TR for about 6 months now and haven't had to spend any money on it apart from maintainence.. you all suck.
Better knock on wood now. Just jinx'd yourself HAHA :bowrofl:

Try unscrewing the regulator from the back of the alternator....check the wear on the brushes.....I say this because you can check an alternator with a meter and it will tell you all is fine until you get it under extreme load....which we all know too well with the way Magnas chew thru batteries........a new regulator is $49.95 from any auto elec.

Moz!