Dimming lights, dash lights on, radio on and off

[Khalil]

As the title states, my car is acting a bit strange, good timing with finals coming up.. With that note, i do not have time or the ability to take the car to the shop for a few days..

Heres how it happened,
I was driving with out any problems, then i pulled into a parking lot and the lights dimmed for a split second and all the dash lights came on ( i think all of them except the check engine, and atf). Since then the dash lights have never came off (i tried unhooking the battery for a while). Then the next day while i was driving all the lights became dull and the radio started to turn off and on, the heater blower also became very slow.

My thoughts are it could be the alternator/battery, but i got my buddy with a truck and connected jumper cables, but the light dimming, radio on/off didn't stop. Im not sure if that disproves that it could be the alternator/battery.

Another thought was there could be a short somewhere, and i hope this is not true because then i dont know how to fix it or how expensive it will be to get a shop to find/fix the short.

Any ideas guys?

[NikFu S.]

First thing to do is go to Shuck's or somewhere and have them do a verifiable test on your alt and battery.

I'm nowhere near an electrical guru, but I wonder if your voltage regulator is at fault?
I think I mentioned this before, but it still might be worth getting a cig lighter volt meter. $15 at Wal-World. It tells you your alt output, battery charge level, and whether the alt is charging the battery.

[Manarius]

What you describe is just what a failing alternator does. I'd have it load tested somewhere, but I'm fairly sure that it's going to come up a few volts short.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by Khalil

My thoughts are it could be the alternator/battery, but i got my buddy with a truck and connected jumper cables, but the light dimming, radio on/off didn't stop. Im not sure if that disproves that it could be the alternator/battery.
Any ideas guys?

Are you saying that dim lights and radio on/off did not stop when a good battery was connected and I would presume the engine of the other vehicle was running? If all connections were OK full voltage should have been present at the battery. What is more I gather the car cranks and starts OK again an indication of full voltage.

If the above is correct there must be voltage drop within the affected circuits. All that said your description is rather confusing, so that an exact diagnosis is not possible.

[dannmarr]

It sounds like the regulator. It's job is to monitor the battery. If it's bad, it might think the battery is fully charged and will not engage the alternator to charge. That might be the reason why your lights are dimming.

[Khalil]

Also something i forgot to mention that may or may not be helpful is that last week i started the car on a cold day and it felt like the engine was not firing a cylinder or something, it was very rough and the car shook. I left it on for a few minutes and it stopped....

so frustrated right now, i parked it in the garage and theres a nice pool of ATF where i parked, and i just tightened about three leaky transmission hoses last week because it was leaking a little bit.

Im about blow the thing up!

[Khalil]

Newb question - Is the voltage regulator in the alternator?

Another question -
Is it possible that the ATF is leaking out because of excessively high presure?
well actully it would probably spray out if the presure was too high.... Would something blocking the ATFs path make any loose hose connections leak? What would make slightly loose hose connections leak?

I know that this last quesiton dosn't really have to do with my electrical issue ( i think ) but i might as well ask..

[svxcess]

Originally Posted by Khalil

Newb question - Is the voltage regulator in the alternator?

Both the diode (rectifier bridge) and voltage regulator are located inside the alternator. You should be able to get your charging system checked for free at Auto Zone or Advance Auto. Their checks include these circuits

Another question -
Is it possible that the ATF is leaking out because of excessively high pressure?Well actually it would probably spray out if the pressure was too high.... Would something blocking the ATFs path make any loose hose connections leak? What would make slightly loose hose connections leak?

I know that this last question dosn't really have to do with my electrical issue ( think) but i might as well ask.

[Khalil]

Just got back from schucks, alternator was bad.
It was only putting out about 10-11 volts. Bought a remanufactured one and hopefully that fixes everything, thanks for the help.

[dannmarr]

ATF is also used for the power steering. Make sure where your leak is from, the Trans or the Steering.

[Khalil]

Alternator fixed it all.

The leak however must be coming from my transmission (checked fluid levels.) Probably a loose hose somewhere... Would there be any reason to why all my hoses started leaking around the same time?

[NikFu S.]

Might be blockage in your atf cooler/radiator.

[Earthworm]

Is your power steering fluid level also ok? The high pressure line likes to develop a pinhole leak and the low pressure line likes to work its way loose.