Battery And Ebrake Light on... HELP!!!

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 09:37 AM

i just put CAI on my car... i made the mistake of starting it up w/o having the air temp sensor plugged in. So needless to say i'm getting a CEL(check engine light) now, i drilled a hole in the intake and put the sensor back in, but the light still hasn't come off yet. Somebody told me that if I disconnect the negative terminal on the battery, and let it sit for a few hours, the ecu should reset itself. I went ahead and took it off for about 3-4 hours, no big deal right, what could it hurt. Well I was all the way across town when I did it, so i hooked it back up and went home. Almost to my house, the battery light, and the E-Brake light came on, at first they kind of flickered, but now they stay on unless I hit a bump, then it goes away for a few seconds, but it just comes right back on!!! Any Ideas?!?!?! I had a problem kind of like this before, my negative terminal was rotten, so I replaced it. I looked at the wires for the negative side, and they were old and frail, so i clipped em and stripped em, and hooked it back up, STILL NOTHING!!! I'm having no electrical problems whatsoever, although the battery does look kind of old. Should I maybe take it to like AutoZone or something where they can do the electrical test??? Any help would be nice!

psuLemon · Jul 26th, 2005, 09:46 AM

well for the ebrake light, did you make sure its down all the way, i had a quarter get stuck under it once and it did the same thing.. go to autozone and get an obdII scan and ask them to erase the codes and diagnose them..

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 10:02 AM

i'm going to def. take it to auto zone, but as far as the ebrake goes, it stays lit up, when i engage the ebrake, it gets brighter, when i disengage it, it gets dimmer, batterylight just stays the same no matter what. i just went and put jumper cables on it to see if it was the battery, it does the same thing even w/ cables on there, so i guess i just need to take it to autozone but if any one else has any ideas... i'm all ears on this one! thanks lemon, ur always full of info! haha

psuLemon · Jul 26th, 2005, 10:21 AM

well your cel for the othe problem is prolly just check you started it with reconnecting all the sensors... take off the projective cover and look under your ebrake, im assume change mine have slipped down there.. i will look like it goes all the way, but there might be one more slot till its fully down

IanH · Jul 26th, 2005, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditto0011

i'm going to def. take it to auto zone, but as far as the ebrake goes, it stays lit up, when i engage the ebrake, it gets brighter, when i disengage it, it gets dimmer, batterylight just stays the same no matter what. i just went and put jumper cables on it to see if it was the battery, it does the same thing even w/ cables on there, so i guess i just need to take it to autozone but if any one else has any ideas... i'm all ears on this one! thanks lemon, ur always full of info! haha

Isn't this the symptom for Alternator failure ?
If I remember correctly my daughters car both Ebrake and Batt would flash together at high revs.
Good Luck....

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 03:24 PM

Ian, thats funny that you mention if flashed at high revs.... its like the opposite, they stay on when the cars just idling, but when I rev it high, it goes away, then it comes back on as the car dies back down.... I'm going to diagnose the ecu myself first, see if it gives me any codes at all, but if all else, I am going to have the electrical system checked at Autozone... eventually, todays been a real busy day, thanks for all the info guys!

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 07:23 PM

Ok now I'm really stumped.. I took my car to autozone, again remember I've had NO problems up to this point... They were testing the battery, and the computer said it was bad. So I go to start the car, and it wont. I have the people at autozone jump it, and I start to go home. Not much further down the street, I start getting a total loss of power, the engine was still running, not very strong tho. Finally it died, and now it won't kick over. I really think that it is the altenator thats bad, well I think I had a bad battery first, then that finally killed the alternator. I have someone on their way right now to see if we can jump it or what but if this helps anyone determine what the problem is I really need the help!!!

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 10:04 PM

ok well i went and got a battery for it, and it is running now... but the battery light AND the ebrake light are still on, and they go away at prolly 3-4000 rpms(i don't have a tach so i duno 4 sure) but the only thing i can think of to do now is to go and get the alternator tested... as you can imagine i'm kind of skeptical to have that done but i don't know what else to do...

aminidab · Jul 26th, 2005, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditto0011

ok well i went and got a battery for it, and it is running now... but the battery light AND the ebrake light are still on, and they go away at prolly 3-4000 rpms(i don't have a tach so i duno 4 sure) but the only thing i can think of to do now is to go and get the alternator tested... as you can imagine i'm kind of skeptical to have that done but i don't know what else to do...

The brake light and the battery light being on shows it's an alternator problem. It may go away at higher RPMs b/c the alternator is starting to work.

Your experience also shows it to be an alternator problem.. If the car dies after a jump, your battery isn't charging.

ditto0011 · Jul 26th, 2005, 11:51 PM

yeh thats what i'm hearing from MULTIPLE people, so i am def. gona get it tested tommoro.... *sigh* altogether this is like almost 200... anybody ever changed an alternator hahah

thanks 4 all ur help guys, for anyone who's interested, or cares, i'll let u know whats up w/ it for sure tommoro, hey it might help somebody later on who has the same problem, oh well! thanks again

IanH · Jul 27th, 2005, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditto0011

yeh thats what i'm hearing from MULTIPLE people, so i am def. gona get it tested tommoro.... *sigh* altogether this is like almost 200... anybody ever changed an alternator hahah

thanks 4 all ur help guys, for anyone who's interested, or cares, i'll let u know whats up w/ it for sure tommoro, hey it might help somebody later on who has the same problem, oh well! thanks again

Yes on Daughters SR20, and its not nice, hopefully easier on the GA if there is more room.
Do a search, and look up how to get PS belt loosened because you should replace the belts while you are there if they are original. this was not easy to see when i did it on my GA when I replaced the front seal.
Hum, check the front seal isn't leaking while you are there !!!!
This can cause Alternator to fail if its leaking.
Good Luck....

ditto0011 · Jul 28th, 2005, 01:29 AM

No it really was not that easy... those little bolts at the bottom were hard to remove, at least with the tools I had, also there is almost no room to unscrew those bolts any other way than by hand. I had to take the heat shield off the exhaust manifold, and btw, I have 99,000 miles and i'm pretty sure those were the factory bolts, they snapped off, and now the bottom half is stuck in the exhaust manifold... how the hell am i going to get those out w/o pulling that whole section of the exhaust off? or can i? i got like 2 bolts out, one in the bottom left and the 1 right below o2 sensor so it's still on there, but it is kind of loose. what if i just take the heat shield off? i no i have plastic radiator fans and i don't want to risk it... other than that little problem everything turned out beautifully.. the first time i fired her up, all lights were gone!

and also the belt still looked brand new, it wasn't original, and i did have the front seal replaced recently b/c it was under warranty and was leaking, i don't think thats a problem anymore, unless the front seal could be damaged and not leak oil... i mean, it was carmax who fixed it so who knows haha

IanH · Jul 28th, 2005, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditto0011

No it really was not that easy... those little bolts at the bottom were hard to remove, at least with the tools I had, also there is almost no room to unscrew those bolts any other way than by hand. I had to take the heat shield off the exhaust manifold, and btw, I have 99,000 miles and i'm pretty sure those were the factory bolts, they snapped off, and now the bottom half is stuck in the exhaust manifold... how the hell am i going to get those out w/o pulling that whole section of the exhaust off? or can i? i got like 2 bolts out, one in the bottom left and the 1 right below o2 sensor so it's still on there, but it is kind of loose. what if i just take the heat shield off? i no i have plastic radiator fans and i don't want to risk it... other than that little problem everything turned out beautifully.. the first time i fired her up, all lights were gone!

and also the belt still looked brand new, it wasn't original, and i did have the front seal replaced recently b/c it was under warranty and was leaking, i don't think thats a problem anymore, unless the front seal could be damaged and not leak oil... i mean, it was carmax who fixed it so who knows haha

Pleased you got it fixed.
Yes it is tough to do, no room.
Well all the bolts on my 97 are factory and have not been disturbed except for the work I did last year and this.
I think you will either have to leave the broken bolts or remove the manifold and drill them out, do not break an easyout in the hole, you will not be able to drill it out as its hardened tool steel. I even tried tungsten carbide drill and had to give up on an old Car Long ago in my youth.
If you have to you can drill out and use a Helicoil kit to re-thread.
Good Luck.....