Kinda baffled here, so I need a brainstorming committe. This has been a problem that has slowly gotten worse. I'd post in the electrical section, but I tend not to get too many replies there.
I took the car off the road 2 weeks ago becuase I thought the alternator was bad. The headlights were flickering, the idle was up and down, and I was absolutely dusted by a bone stock 2002 WRX AND a V6 Lincoln LS. The car wasn't accelerating well and felt like a dog. It sat for a few days.
I tried starting the car last week on a whim, and the car acted as if the battery was dead. I left it alone for another day without testing the battery. The next day, I went outside, tested the battery and it showed good surface charge, but it would not start. Now, a week later, it fires up in one shot without assistance and purrs like a kitten. I'm baffled.
Symptoms:
-Dim headlights, tend to flicker, but is at random times
-flickering HVAC LCD screen
-Flickering dash lights
-The water temp sensor gauge works when it wants to
-power loss
-The radio works every other cycling of the key
Known:
-The motors mount in front is torn and has been for a while
-The battery shows 12.5 volts surface charge. I have not load tested the battery. Will do soon.
-Occasinally the alternator will not put out anything higher than 13.0 Volts. When the car runs normally, it puts out 14.2-14.5 volts. I have yet to full field the alternator... it's too damn cold and two jobs, college, and EMT stuff keep me busy. Will do soon.
-The car puts out no codes and no CE while running.
-ignition wire to remote solenoid control was bypassed. There was a break in the harness, so I band-aided it. It was a year ago and I haven't really had other issues with it, but I suspect more failures in the harness are soon to surface.
The bizzare factor:
Randomly, the car will not start. I turn the ignition and the car clicks, like the battery is dead. When I turn on the interior lights and step on the brake pedal, the lights go very dim. Turn on the headlights and the lights are dim as could be. They get dimmer as I tap the brake pedal. This is all with the car OFF. Then, I pull the key out, say a few curse words, turn the key, and the car fires right up like nothing happened! It will drive normally for as long as I choose to drive. Then randomly, it does the same thing when I go to strart it later. Hot, cold, doesn't matter. Randomly before I took it off the road almost 2 weeks ago, the lights would flicker and act as if the alternator was shot. Now, I can't get it to do it again.
Also, I feel a power loss. The car is smooth to 70 MPH, but for some reason feels very sluggish. It does't even force my head back into the seat anymore on hard launches or downshifts. The butt-dyno is sad.
I realize some of this might be coincidental or unrelated to the big electrical issue I'm having, but the more info, the better.
Thanks for any and all help. I'm kinda frustrated, but I have a feeling I'm missing something obvious. Either that or preparing to brace myself for a short in the harness somewhere. But these are random... I can't see a pattern or cause and effect type of scenario.
SHO specialist team, UNITE!
I took the car off the road 2 weeks ago becuase I thought the alternator was bad. The headlights were flickering, the idle was up and down, and I was absolutely dusted by a bone stock 2002 WRX AND a V6 Lincoln LS. The car wasn't accelerating well and felt like a dog. It sat for a few days.
I tried starting the car last week on a whim, and the car acted as if the battery was dead. I left it alone for another day without testing the battery. The next day, I went outside, tested the battery and it showed good surface charge, but it would not start. Now, a week later, it fires up in one shot without assistance and purrs like a kitten. I'm baffled.
Symptoms:
-Dim headlights, tend to flicker, but is at random times
-flickering HVAC LCD screen
-Flickering dash lights
-The water temp sensor gauge works when it wants to
-power loss
-The radio works every other cycling of the key
Known:
-The motors mount in front is torn and has been for a while
-The battery shows 12.5 volts surface charge. I have not load tested the battery. Will do soon.
-Occasinally the alternator will not put out anything higher than 13.0 Volts. When the car runs normally, it puts out 14.2-14.5 volts. I have yet to full field the alternator... it's too damn cold and two jobs, college, and EMT stuff keep me busy. Will do soon.
-The car puts out no codes and no CE while running.
-ignition wire to remote solenoid control was bypassed. There was a break in the harness, so I band-aided it. It was a year ago and I haven't really had other issues with it, but I suspect more failures in the harness are soon to surface.
The bizzare factor:
Randomly, the car will not start. I turn the ignition and the car clicks, like the battery is dead. When I turn on the interior lights and step on the brake pedal, the lights go very dim. Turn on the headlights and the lights are dim as could be. They get dimmer as I tap the brake pedal. This is all with the car OFF. Then, I pull the key out, say a few curse words, turn the key, and the car fires right up like nothing happened! It will drive normally for as long as I choose to drive. Then randomly, it does the same thing when I go to strart it later. Hot, cold, doesn't matter. Randomly before I took it off the road almost 2 weeks ago, the lights would flicker and act as if the alternator was shot. Now, I can't get it to do it again.
Also, I feel a power loss. The car is smooth to 70 MPH, but for some reason feels very sluggish. It does't even force my head back into the seat anymore on hard launches or downshifts. The butt-dyno is sad.
I realize some of this might be coincidental or unrelated to the big electrical issue I'm having, but the more info, the better.
Thanks for any and all help. I'm kinda frustrated, but I have a feeling I'm missing something obvious. Either that or preparing to brace myself for a short in the harness somewhere. But these are random... I can't see a pattern or cause and effect type of scenario.
SHO specialist team, UNITE!
