Problems at night

[brian1950]

A couple of times now, and only when I have the lights on at night, my 4x4 light, abs, and a couple of other lights come on and the transmission goes into limp home mode. Last night the light came on to check low beam headlights but when I checked they were ok. In the daytime there is no problem. I dont know if the battery is on the way out or what could be causing this to happen. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

[X5SND]

Check to see what its charging.

[TerminatorX5]

if you have random electrical gremlins (and it seems that you do, with trifeca lights, with headlights), chances are that is your battery and/or alternator...

as SND suggested, check your charging voltage, check your battery voltage with the "surface charge" removed, see what you have... do a search for "surface charge", you shouldbve able to find a few posts in this reference...

[brian1950]

Thanks fellas. I will follow your advice and see how it goes.

[AquilaBMW]

To check your battery and alternator at the same time, try opening up your Cluster to see what the voltage the alternator is putting out. Anything above 13.9v or so means it's overworking and probably a bad battery. Or a bad voltage regulator on the Battery.

[bcredliner]

I would eliminate the battery as a cause first. Easier to do and little or no cost. Also, more likely to be the problem, especially if it is over 3-4 or more years old and you drive mostly short distances or you don't drive it much. Most places that sell batteries will test it for $0.