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Idiot lights stay on after cold start 200 1990

posted by  someone claiming to be Mate on  Tue Feb 18 15:49 CST 2003 [RELATED]

Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone might have an idea as to the cause of a recent problem with my car. When the car is cold most of the lights on my instrument cluster stay lit until I put the parking brake down and sometimes until I'm driving for a few minutes. The brake light, battery and oil and service light go on (the other lights might just have bad bulbs and thats why they don't come on) Also, after the lights go off the car idles higher and sounds better. It starts and runs fine. I recently replaced my speedometer and was fiddling with the cluster. Accidentially I hooked up the red/white wire after fiddling with the old speedo and burnt out the unit. The new speedo I got works fine, but the replacement might have something to do with my new problem. I've read the threads about wiring harness problems and voltage regulators, but still am uncertain as to the cause of this problem, and don't want to get stranded by the side of a snowy road. All ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mate (Upstate New York)








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    Idiot lights stay on after cold start 200 1990

    posted by  B.C. on  Tue Feb 18 17:12 CST 2003
    Author: [PROFILE] [EVERY POST] [THREADS] [BEST POSTS] RSS Feed     [IGNORE ALL POSTS]
    last visit: Wed Mar 28 22:28 CST 2012
    [RELATED]

    Two things happen that cause the warning lights to go out. The oil pressure light ground circuit is through the sensor. A little pressure, light goes out.

    The other lights ground through the alternator brushes. When the alternator spins up and starts charging, the lights go out.

    Your situation sounds like the alternator is slow in getting up to output. Have you checked or replaced the brushes? They will eventually wear out, and the shorted they get, the more likely they are to produce weird effects.

    Cold day, short brushes? Brush springs have to push farther out, and there may be some cold sticky oily stuff in the brush channel. Slow in getting good contact. Warm engine removes the stickiness.

    Easy fix. Post if you need more info.

    Good Luck,

    Bob

    :>)







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      Idiot lights stay on after cold start 200 1990

      posted by  someone claiming to be trev29 on  Wed Feb 19 01:34 CST 2003 [RELATED]

      Yep. I guess, in the colder weather the alternator tries a little harder to get the battery back up just after start. If your brushes are on the way out, the warning lights (other than the oil) will be dim. Also, check to see if the ground connection from the alternator to engine mount is good. If you're worried about being stranded, check the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine running. If between about 13.5v and 14.5v, you should be ok.







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