Battery light flickering on startup

E53fan16 · #1 09-02-2018, 11:16 PM

Update:

Dropped the car off Friday morning to have the alternator changed. The mechanic calls me at 1 pm and tells me the alternator pulley is making noise and probably worn out, and he suggests that I change it in addition to another belt, I forgot the name of the other. Annoyed at the additional cost, but I ok it nonetheless. Mechanic calls again at 3:45 pm and says after changing the alternator and the aforementioned belts, the vehicle is still having issues with the battery light flashing and now having starting issues, which I did not bring it in with starting issues. He states the bad alternator drained my battery which may be the original battery and he suggests that I change the battery to ensure all problems are resolved. He said the new battery would be $245. Now I'm more annoyed. I go ahead and ok the new battery.

I pick up the vehicle at 5:30 and all is well. No flickering battery light upon starting. Drove home and parked it. Stepped back out at 9 pm to head to the grocery store and upon starting I noticed the battery light is flickering once again. Pissed at this point, I checked my battery level and it's reading 13.5 and 13.8 with the ignition running.

Called my indy the next morning, he told me due to the holiday I would need to bring the vehicle in on Tuesday. I really did not drive much on Saturday but the flickering on startup still persists. Around 8 pm tonight on the way back home with my wife I noticed the battery light is now flashing while driving, which it was not doing prior to bringing it into the shop. By the time I got home the battery light was no longer flashing it was completed illuminated and staying on.

What's really going on here? Could it be a defective alternator or bad battery installed or bad workmanship? I know these question will be answered on Tuesday, but the X is really letting me down at this point. I'm at the point where I can't stomach the mechanic telling me something else is wrong after spending $800 dollars. Now with one more day to wait, I'm not even sure if it's safe to drive the X.

The wife suggests getting rid of the X. At only 72K, I have dumped a considerably amount cash into repairs over the past year. I just did right front bearing and CV three weeks ago.

Fifty150hs · #2 09-03-2018, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E53fan16

Update:

Dropped the car off Friday morning to have the alternator changed. The mechanic calls me at 1 pm and tells me the alternator pulley is making noise and probably worn out, and he suggests that I change it in addition to another belt, I forgot the name of the other. Annoyed at the additional cost, but I ok it nonetheless. Mechanic calls again at 3:45 pm and says after changing the alternator and the aforementioned belts, the vehicle is still having issues with the battery light flashing and now having starting issues, which I did not bring it in with starting issues. He states the bad alternator drained my battery which may be the original battery and he suggests that I change the battery to ensure all problems are resolved. He said the new battery would be $245. Now I'm more annoyed. I go ahead and ok the new battery.

I pick up the vehicle at 5:30 and all is well. No flickering battery light upon starting. Drove home and parked it. Stepped back out at 9 pm to head to the grocery store and upon starting I noticed the battery light is flickering once again. Pissed at this point, I checked my battery level and it's reading 13.5 and 13.8 with the ignition running.

Called my indy the next morning, he told me due to the holiday I would need to bring the vehicle in on Tuesday. I really did not drive much on Saturday but the flickering on startup still persists. Around 8 pm tonight on the way back home with my wife I noticed the battery light is now flashing while driving, which it was not doing prior to bringing it into the shop. By the time I got home the battery light was no longer flashing it was completed illuminated and staying on.

What's really going on here? Could it be a defective alternator or bad battery installed or bad workmanship? I know these question will be answered on Tuesday, but the X is really letting me down at this point. I'm at the point where I can't stomach the mechanic telling me something else is wrong after spending $800 dollars. Now with one more day to wait, I'm not even sure if it's safe to drive the X.

The wife suggests getting rid of the X. At only 72K, I have dumped a considerably amount cash into repairs over the past year. I just did right front bearing and CV three weeks ago.

When it's on steady it's usually the alternator. Did you check running voltage after it came on steady? Could be a defective alternator.

upallnight · #3 09-03-2018, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E53fan16

Update:

Dropped the car off Friday morning to have the alternator changed. The mechanic calls me at 1 pm and tells me the alternator pulley is making noise and probably worn out, and he suggests that I change it in addition to another belt, I forgot the name of the other. Annoyed at the additional cost, but I ok it nonetheless. Mechanic calls again at 3:45 pm and says after changing the alternator and the aforementioned belts, the vehicle is still having issues with the battery light flashing and now having starting issues, which I did not bring it in with starting issues. He states the bad alternator drained my battery which may be the original battery and he suggests that I change the battery to ensure all problems are resolved. He said the new battery would be $245. Now I'm more annoyed. I go ahead and ok the new battery.

I pick up the vehicle at 5:30 and all is well. No flickering battery light upon starting. Drove home and parked it. Stepped back out at 9 pm to head to the grocery store and upon starting I noticed the battery light is flickering once again. Pissed at this point, I checked my battery level and it's reading 13.5 and 13.8 with the ignition running.

Called my indy the next morning, he told me due to the holiday I would need to bring the vehicle in on Tuesday. I really did not drive much on Saturday but the flickering on startup still persists. Around 8 pm tonight on the way back home with my wife I noticed the battery light is now flashing while driving, which it was not doing prior to bringing it into the shop. By the time I got home the battery light was no longer flashing it was completed illuminated and staying on.

What's really going on here? Could it be a defective alternator or bad battery installed or bad workmanship? I know these question will be answered on Tuesday, but the X is really letting me down at this point. I'm at the point where I can't stomach the mechanic telling me something else is wrong after spending $800 dollars. Now with one more day to wait, I'm not even sure if it's safe to drive the X.

The wife suggests getting rid of the X. At only 72K, I have dumped a considerably amount cash into repairs over the past year. I just did right front bearing and CV three weeks ago.

No, it is not safe to drive the X at this point. Either use your other car or go and rent a car for the day. The battery is not charging and driving on the battery will eventually drain the battery to the point that it can no longer provide electricity to operate the car. The car will stop running and it could be at the most inopportune time like on the highway.

Remember a Happy wife mean a Happy life.

E53fan16 · #4 09-03-2018, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by upallnight

No, it is not safe to drive the X at this point. Either use your other car or go and rent a car for the day. The battery is not charging and driving on the battery will eventually drain the battery to the point that it can no longer provide electricity to operate the car. The car will stop running and it could be at the most inopportune time like on the highway.

Remember a Happy wife mean a Happy life.

I wish I had seen this earlier. Took the X out this morning to go to Autozone to get a brake light bulb since that came on my dash. When I got back to try and start her up the X was completely dead. Nothing at all when trying to start, just dead. Tried to get a jump start but to no avail. I called road service and had the X towed and left in front of the shop that did the work.

Hope you guys are enjoying your labor day holiday and are barbequing.

upallnight · #5 09-03-2018, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E53fan16

I wish I had seen this earlier. Took the X out this morning to go to Autozone to get a brake light bulb since that came on my dash. When I got back to try and start her up the X was completely dead. Nothing at all when trying to start, just dead. Tried to get a jump start but to no avail. I called road service and had the X towed and left in front of the shop that did the work.

Hope you guys are enjoying your labor day holiday and are barbequing.

I would never try to jump-start an X with a dead battery. The power surge from the other car alternator along with your dead battery is sometimes a perfect storm to fry some electronic components. Better to take the battery out or hookup a charger at the jump points to slowly recharge the battery.