1stgear

I'm in south Georgia and it's about 100 today. When I drive the car in weather like this and she's at operating temperature, and at idle, not under acceleration, the battery (red) gauge/light will come on intermittently. Does this sound like a weak battery or the alternator going bad?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

pingman

1stgear, I,m not as schooled in electronics as a lot of these guys, and I live in middle Ga. but have not had these symtoms. I did have another vehicle of my youth that did the same thing, and my dad said that
it was probably due to increased resistance in the battery and wiring due to the heat and expansion to the wiring due to heat both ambient as well as operating. It will be interesting to see what the group thinks. Of course some folks won't have a clue how hot 100 plus temps along with 70 to 80 percent humidity really feels like! I usually don't drive my cars (p-cars) with temps like we have been seeing this week. Hope you find out why, and please post what was found. Mark

1stgear

Thanks, Mark. Hopefully some other will chime in too. I don't drive my car in weather like this either. I just was doing an overdue oil change and had to get the car warmed up to operating temp. NOT hard to do on a day like today.

Pavegeno928

Spent a lot of time in 96 degrees in northwest Florida today...haven't seen this kind of indication...was running radio, AC with four condensers with three condenser fans, and no electrical issues. Also got the oil temp up hot enough to test the right front oil cooler fan and the electircal system handled it all without an issue.

theiceman

for the oil pressure light to flicker on at these temps at idle I would say no big deal , but the generator light no way ... may seam like a dumb question but are you sure the right bulb is in the right socket ?

get your meter out and check your charging voltage on your battery. if at idle you are above 13volts or so you should be fine. There are exact specs in the Bently at idle and 1500 rpm but i don't have it handy.
Usually the other reason it may come on after warm up is because the car usually idles lower when warmed up and that might be enough to drop you under the threshold, or the belt is loose and could be slipping. Check all these things