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Brake, Alternator and ABS lights came on?

Hertz

Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2002
Messages
13,501
Location
Chicago, IL
Just before I was parking the car tonight my ALT and ABS lights flicked on for a second, went out and as I was parking they came on again -- this time I noticed that the E-Brake light was on also... with no apparent affect.If it wasn't for the E-brake light, I would have assumed that my alternator belt was loose or something (I do get a bit of a "warm" smell, but no audible slippage). I have all new belts and honestly haven't checked the tension in 300 miles.BUT, the E-brake light? The brake wasn't touched -- handle is down all the way.As Bob in Chicago suggested (regarding some idle problems) I should check my ECU for capicator leakage. Could this strange behavior be ECU-related or alternator/belt related?Any help would be appreciated -- I'll investigate further tomorrow, just wanted to "troll" a little bit before hand. Thanks.-Ryan
 

4g63t

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2002
Messages
2,073
Location
Lancaster PA
About a week ago my alt and parking brake lights came on and they would stay on whenever the car car was running. I checked everything - all wires, connections,etc... but nothing was wrong anywhere. (caps were done a while back) Then I had a leak in my exhaust system fixed and the lights went out and haven't given me a problem since. My experience w/ it probably doesn't help you at all - just really weird.
 

Just to add to the confusion, I have a
year old Mitsu 90 GVR4 90 amp alternator, fresh caps, all grounds intact, and out of the blue my dash warning lights have begun to flicker at 6K rpm and up. The battery connections are solid, and I have no clue why this is happening.
 

Ian M

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Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
2,348
Location
Martinsburg,WV
The ALT,Brake,and ABS lights will all come on when the alternator is going out. Check the voltage at the battery while its running,you should see around 14.4 volts. Mine did it off and on,when the lights came on,Id see about 12.5v -when the lights went out,Id see 14.4. I replaced the alternator and it hasnt done it since. Unfortunatly,your alternator being only a year old isnt a guarantee,it doesnt seem you can get a good quality reman alternator anymore,and even the factory ones are usually reman too...
frown.gif
 

quote:Originally posted by Ian M:
The ALT,Brake,and ABS lights will all come on when the alternator is going out. Check the voltage at the battery while its running,you should see around 14.4 volts. Mine did it off and on,when the lights came on,Id see about 12.5v -when the lights went out,Id see 14.4. I replaced the alternator and it hasnt done it since. Unfortunatly,your alternator being only a year old isnt a guarantee,it doesnt seem you can get a good quality reman alternator anymore,and even the factory ones are usually reman too...
frown.gif
Yeah, fortunately, this "new" factory one was free, but you're right, it does say something about being remanned by Mitsu on it. I can't believe I thought it would be a better quality reman than the crappy autoparts stores alternators.
 

Well, after replacing the 1 year old Mitsu reman alternator, the car works great again. SinceI needed the car to run PRONTO for my wedding + honeymoon this weekend, I put in an AutoZone 75 amp reman, which is working well (for now). I've never had an O2 housing heat shield, so now that I'm on my 3rd or 4th alt, I'm going to make a small heat shield for it.
 

Howard, could you use a stock 1G/GVR4 lower heat shield? I've got one I can send you if you'd like, but I'm sure you could find something like that locally pretty easily.Erik A.
#206/1000
 

ken inn

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2001
Messages
7,529
Location
krum texas
howard got married yesterday, and is on his honeymoon.
 

I went tuning/logging yesterday in the rain. Stupid me...I know how alternators near the bottom of the engine tend to get soaked by water. I had this happen in 2 other cars. Whelp my abs, battery, and brake light came on and now im waiting for my alternator to die. what was the quote from one of our members. "This car frustrates me so much. But I still love her."

So..mitsubishi alternator or kragen/pepboys brand? any suggestions appreciated.

DongeR615
 

oh yea does anyone know if the 90 amp alternator for the DOHC automatic galant will fit in our vr4's. I looked at the service manual and it says that we use a 75 amp alternator.

DongeR615
 

Hertz

Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2002
Messages
13,501
Location
Chicago, IL
sh*t.

I believe that OEM is the way to go. And secondly, you can never be sure -- new and reman alternators can die hours after you install them.

Eww.. good luck changing that alternator. It sucks. I think there's been some discussion on it here, do a search -- might have been Ken Inn with the details....
 

First off, I recommend buying the factory alternator, it's about $200.

Second, GVR4's came with the 90 amp model from the factory, not the 75.
 

atsiauto

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
Messages
1,578
Location
Richmond Va,
do an interchange theres about 5 dif cars that had the same alt as ours I pulled mine off a colt or mirage or some dookie.
 
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