bluejae

about 3 months ago, i replaced the battery with a new one... was fine for a couple of months and then saw my dash turn red with a battery icon... never seen it before... i was wondering if it was a fluke so i ignored it... on a different day i got a message saying to check my right tail light bulbs... i checked and there were no issues... on another day i got the tail light message and then later the red battery message...

so far from the few times i've gotten this message, i've noticed that i was either stopped and idling or parked with the engine running... i don't believe i've ever seen these messages while the car was moving...

i took the car to pep boys to have them check the battery... they rolled this machine over to my car and hooked it up and after about 5-10 minutes, they told me the battery was fine...

so i'm kind of lost... i've still driven it a few times after that and the car is running fine... i've searched around online and saw that some were talking about the alternator and some were talking about a regulator... or even a water pump...

do i just need to take my car into the dealer or indy shop?


edit: my tail lights already had the recall done a year or so ago... can't remember the exact year but i know some of my lights were out and they replaced them and the wiring i think...

Tlnt60

So a couple of things, I would double check all the connections and the battery related fuses. If anything is a little loose you might have this intermitted issue. Another thing to maybe look at would the regulator. Assuming that this is coming and going these are things I would start with. Also maybe get the battery/voltage checked when the light comes back on.

bluejae

while checking the battery connection and fuses... all the fuses look fine... the only thing i could find was that the positive terminal was just barely loose... i mean i had to wiggle it pretty hard to get it to move but i was able to move it... so i tightened it down so there is no more give... afterward i figured i would just wait for the red battery warning to come on again... i've driven it a few times and have yet to see the message... still waiting... i'd be surprised if it was the battery connection...

bluejae

Update: well... i'm surprised... i have not had the red battery warning come back after tightening down the positive terminal on the battery... it's hard to believe that was the problem... it was just barely loose...

i could have essentially wasted money on a regulator, new alternator, diagnosis, etc...