okey - this just started happening last week:

i start my car (83 GSL) up and when the rpm is below 1500, all the warning lights on the dash kind of flicker on and off. and i can hear a weird rattling under the hood that coincides with the frequency of the flickering. also, the volt meter reads about 11v regardless of where i am on the tach.

when i drive around for a bit, it'll eventually fix itself - the volt meter even bumps back up to about 13-14v.

any ideas? loose ground maybe?

 

If it was me, I would check your alternator belt. Typically when one fails all of the warning lights come on, and of course your voltage drops. If yours is fraying or slipping, it might also have a piece of rubber that is flicking around and hitting the hood or other parts of the engine.

Interesting story....I was driving the mound and my alternator belt broke. All the warning lights came on, and I heard a weird noise from the engine bay. I pulled over, checked it out, and the belt was broken. I was near a walgreens, so I went in and started looking at the pantyhose. A clerk asked me if I needed some help, so I told her I'm looking for a strong pair of hose that won't run, preferably in brown. She helped me out, I cut a leg off of the hose and tied it around the pulleys. That thing got me back to work, and all around town looking for all of the belts (I figured replace em all).

If anyone knows where I got this tip, and go ahead and call me out on it, but if not it's my secret. Put some pantyhose in your storage compartments, for real. It'll save your *** one day.

Right on.

 

it's definitely not my belt. it was replaced about 2000mi ago. i checked it and it feels tight and solid.

thanks for the panty hose tip though...

 

I just carry an old belt. Pantyhose seems kinda fruity.

 

Sounds like U have a case of the RAMBLINGS!!!
See Rotaries dont suffer from GREMLINS.... They have their own breed of peculiar things that just seem to pop up.... I call them RAMBLINGS

 

son, is that a panty on your head?

 

id slap on a new alt and call it done

 

did you make up some crazy story when you bought them.. something along the lines of ... "well, i like the support. but being as active as i am , it is hard to find ones that are strong enough"

 

Alright, i hada funny problem like that, everytime i turned my dash would light up... ended up being that something under the hood came out of its medal houseing and was grounding to the chasis. Its its in the lower left portion of the engine bay. Take a look, that might be it.

 

No just bought em. OK, so if you guys carry an extra belt, that's cool too. But the p-hose will work for any belt, and requires no tools to install. Real nice. Of course, probably less reliable than a belt, but it got me around town.

Right on.

 

hmm...that sounds about right. i'll check that out.