e-brake & battery light

acd82940 · 03-20-2005, 09:21 PM

I have a '96 Passport. The e-brake, battery, & 4-wheel drive lights flicker when I accelerate. This has been going on for 3 weeks. A couple of times I've had the speedometer & tachometer both stop working, the air bag light come on, the radio go off, and the engine start to sputter. I've had the battery & alternator checked and both seem to be good. I've lived with the ABS light going on and off over the years. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be causing these current problems? Thanks.

amigo-2k · 03-20-2005, 10:05 PM

The ebrake and battery coming on is a classic sign of a alt going out. Clean up you ground points (where the wires ground to the alt and the body) and see what you get.

acd82940 · 03-20-2005, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amigo-2k

The ebrake and battery coming on is a classic sign of a alt going out. Clean up you ground points (where the wires ground to the alt and the body) and see what you get.

Thanks for the response. I took the car to Sears and they did their Diehard starting and charging service. They thoroughly cleaned the contacts and recharged the battery, and they said that the alternator was ok. They seem to think that it's some sort of electrical problem. What do you think?

amigo-2k · 03-20-2005, 10:55 PM

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...=battery+light

Ramblin Fever · 03-21-2005, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acd82940

Thanks for the response. I took the car to Sears and they did their Diehard starting and charging service. They thoroughly cleaned the contacts and recharged the battery, and they said that the alternator was ok. They seem to think that it's some sort of electrical problem. What do you think?

"Electrical Problem" I don't agree with that.

I can officially say, "been there done that" with autozone, sears, pepboys, etc myself.

I just went through the same scenerio this past summer, everyone said my alternator was fine. Put in a new battery, cuz it was old, idiot lights still appeared, volts were kind of low - finally gave up and put a new BOSCH alternator in, (although mine was "fine" - supposedly) just to get rid of the headache and the fear of being stranded somewhere.

Loan-behold volts flew right back to normal, idiot lights went away, full power came back into the truck - it was so cool!

These Isuzu's are VERY very picky about their volts, and if they can sense a weakness somewhere in the system they WILL give you symptoms of an electrical nightmare!

Most of these shops that test the alternators are testing them without a load, and testing them on what most cars can run with. Isuzu's are very volt happy and need all the juice they can get.

Trust me, change your alternator, but do NOT, and I repeat DO NOT use just a normal remanufactured one - or you will likely have the same problems within a few months. You need to get either an OEM replacement or a BOSCH.

acd82940 · 03-21-2005, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramblin Fever

"Electrical Problem" I don't agree with that.

I can officially say, "been there done that" with autozone, sears, pepboys, etc myself.

I just went through the same scenerio this past summer, everyone said my alternator was fine. Put in a new battery, cuz it was old, idiot lights still appeared, volts were kind of low - finally gave up and put a new BOSCH alternator in, (although mine was "fine" - supposedly) just to get rid of the headache and the fear of being stranded somewhere.

Loan-behold volts flew right back to normal, idiot lights went away, full power came back into the truck - it was so cool!

These Isuzu's are VERY very picky about their volts, and if they can sense a weakness somewhere in the system they WILL give you symptoms of an electrical nightmare!

Most of these shops that test the alternators are testing them without a load, and testing them on what most cars can run with. Isuzu's are very volt happy and need all the juice they can get.

Trust me, change your alternator, but do NOT, and I repeat DO NOT use just a normal remanufactured one - or you will likely have the same problems within a few months. You need to get either an OEM replacement or a BOSCH.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate the help.

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