Car has been driving perfectly for the past couple months, just got done changing all the filters and oils/fluids in the car and havn't touched it for a couple days. Tonight when I just went to pull out of the garage the charge battery light came on within 10 seconds, about 15 seconds later the oil pressure and coolant level lights both came on, oil pressure was still reading normal on the stock gauge. I don't have anything to test the battery with, although I turned my car off and started it back up and the battery had enough to start the car.

I checked the coolant level and oil level and both are fine. I'm not sure what else to do. Btw, when the add coolant light came on there wasn't the accompanying 'buzzer' as I heard in the past once when I actually was low on coolant, not sure if that means anything.

Thoughts on what to do? I'm not sure what could be wrong and don't want to drive it with that many warning lights on.

 

It's most likely your alternator. You can usually get it tested at an auto parts store for free, but odds are that is what the problem is.

 

Thanks for the tip, I took it out again for a short drive and if I give it a little gas (like up to 3500 rpm) the lights go from lit to all out, then when the rpms drop the lights come back on. So I think my alternator isn't completely gone but it's definately not working too well. Thanks again.

btw: I'm also hearing a slightly weird 'whirring' noise coming from the engine bay, I checked all the belts and they look fine so I'm assuming it's the alternator itself that is causing it which would agree w/ the above.

 

After opening the hood and letting the car idle for a sec I'm not sure it's the alternator. When listening in the engine bay with the hood open I hear a 'clicking' noise coming from the air pump at regular intervals about every second or so. Sounded like something inside of it wasn't quite right.

Thought: Could the warning lights be coming on (and then going off w/ a higher rpm) because a broken air pump is causing a lot of resistance on the alternator belt, not letting it to spin as fast as it should be?

 

Air pump wouldn't cause all of those lights to come on. Take it to a local parts store, they'll test it for free.

 

Yeah I'm going to, I guess people have heard the clicking from a bad alternator:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+pump+clicking

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+pump+clicking

Thanks for the help guys

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=alternator

My problem was exactally like your's, and turned out to be the alternator. At first, it (the lights) would go away sometimes, but eventually it stuck. Eventually, my idle suffered along with the rest of the ignition. I ended up rebuilding it at a local shop, which charged me $125 for a full rebuild + cleaning of the housing.

 

When the alternator goes bad, there isn't enough juice to run the air pump, which results in the electro-magnetic clutch repeatedly failing to engage -- clicking sound.

 

Ahh that makes sense, thanks for the explanation. I've got my alternator pulled just need to get it rebuilt now.

 

Cool, let us know how it goes. Now would also be a good time to get a Greddy underdrive pulley kit (the one that underdrives the waterpump and the alternator).

 

Got the alternator rebuilt today at United Batteries here in Portland, charged $120 and got it done in 2 hours. I got it all back together just now and the car is running great, no warning lights, no clicking. Thanks again for all the help.

 

My 1994 with 58k miles has the exact same symptoms suddenly!

*** Time Line ***
2 weeks ago - air pump starts to click
* thought - air-pump dying, temporarily disconnect harness until greddy kit arrives, oil change.
1 week ago - idle starts going downhill
* thought - spark plugs and wires are worn- order parts
3 days ago - driving is erradic - check everything - re connect air-pump in vain attempt to solve problem
2 days ago - idle sucks, all dash lights are on
today - feels like the engine has no power. cry. search rx7club. find answer to lifes problems.

This Saturday - fix alternator!

Note; Battery is less than 3 months old.

 

Bit of an older thread to resurrect but thought it a good place to start trying to sort out my FDs problem. It's a 1994 with about 50,000 miles on the clock.

I am having the exact same problems; coolant, oil and charge warning lights all coming on together. I took out the alternator and had it tested which it passed with flying colours, the brushes looked new too. Put it back in the car and all was fine for about 24 hours...the lights are now flashing on and off in unison again.

One of my gauges also reports the voltage which stays between 13.4 and 14.2 volts depending on what's switched on...

So basically I'm back to square one, is there anything else relating to the alternator that might be causing this?

 

Check the connections at the battery, check to be sure the connector in the side of the alternator is locked in completely, check all ground contact points for corrosion, etc. You most likely have a grounding problem or a loose connection somewhere.

 

what about the upgraded bosch alternator? worth the price?

 

where can you buy this upgraded alternator???

 

You know, I had the exact same problem a while back. I took the alt and had it tested multiple times; on all occasions, it "passed". Guess what? I said "f*ck it" and got a used alternator from a board member. Haven't had any charging or other electrical issues since

Check it out: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/flickering-lights-%7C-voltage-drop-when-engine-hot-%7C-alternator-related-501248/

EDIt: I seemd to have charging issues ONLY when the car warmed up. I read a few other threads where people have experienced this... try posts by RotaryRessurection and Turbojeff if memory serves me right.

 

All the connections at the battery seem fine as do the ones on the alternator. Guess I'll have to go through some of the grounds to make sure they are all ok.

 

The lights on mine seem to come on at anytime, cold or warm and are quite random. Doesn't seem to matter what stuff is switched on. Aside from the flickering lights the car operates perfectly, but the fact that the lights are doing this indicates a problem could be on its way.

When I had the alternator tested they did it under load and it all checked out, the battery is fairly new too. Before I start to look for a new alternator I'll check out some of the wiring again and make sure it's ok.

Might also take the whole car in and get a system check at least that way I should know where the problem is.

 

I had this problem when i first got my FD. Took it to Autozone and it 'passed'...but the problems continued. I wound up replacing the battery and alternator. Was fine for a month or two but then started having issues again (dash lights dimming occasionally and other stuff). turned out my main fuse block (the one directly connected to the alternator) was partially melted and just generally f*cked up. Couldn't tell by just looking at it, but some of the fuses were melted into the housing and the main wire leading out of it was partially melted as well. Replaced both the fuse block and the main wire, cleaned up all the connections and it's run beautifully for the last 6 months.

Hope that helps.

 

@Efini_7

Would that be the fuse box with the egi main relay and fuel pump relay in it?

 

this happens also when you change your pullies

 

Actually i wound up having to change two fuse boxes. The one that was worst off was the one that is attached to your battery's positive post, the same one the alternator wire goes to and has the MAIN 120A fuse, along with HEAD 30A, EGI 30A, RETRACTOR 30A, and B2 40A fuses. The wire i had to replace goes from this fuse block to the next major fuse block that is large and rectangular and sits by the driver's side strut tower. It has the EGI MAIN RELAY, CIRCUIT RELAY, BTN 60A, B1 40A, ABS 60A, and COOLING FAN 60A fuses in it.

But be sure to check the main wire that goes between the two as it is wrapped in tape and may not look bad from the outside. Mine was toast and i replaced it with two high quality 4ga wires soldered together. Replacing these parts has made all the difference in my electrical system.

Hope that helps...

 

Thanks Efini_7, that helps a lot. Some of the wires from the battery block do look like they need either cleaning up or replacing so I'll have a look at those over the weekend, seems a good place to start.

 

just had this happen to me this afternoon. who rebuilds alternators?