[trbogsr01]

ok so i was driving today and everything was working perfectly normal when all of the sudden i went over a bump, something under the car scraped and then my speedo stopped working. so im like wtf when i also noticed that the interior lights and gauges were dimmer than before. can anyone help me out could it be an alternator problem or something or a fuse?

 

[kelly]

Don't know about speedo. Maybe the sound you heard was your alternator belt flying off. Look for any obvious signs of damage.

 

[Shadowhunter]

ROTFL!!!

Though I dont think that would be it because if the alternator belt broke off wouldnt the wipers and the lights not work at all.

You try checking your battery connections and such?

 

[kelly]

They would still work; they would just be dimmer and slower. If the alternator stops working, available voltage goes down from around 14.2 to 12.6; the battery is still powering everything. Eventually if the battery isn't getting charged, everything will slowly come to a stop.

 

[ondafly]

sounds like battery to me too. Happened on a civic i was driving, the CD player, suddendly stopped playing CDs, and eventually the car just stopped all together - battery was fubar - bought a new one, and everything was back to normal

 

[Cjanik]

faulty wire thats like 1\2 corroded or so, or battery problem, if it can start up the car, its probably low on amp's not voltage, still a battery problem tho

 

[JDM97rsx]

theres a speedomter plug (not sure if thats what its really called) behind the gauges, maybe that slipped out. just a thought

 

[trbogsr01]

could the alternator be broken?

 

[trbogsr01]

also now when i start the car it struggles more and more everytime to start like the battery is dying even though its pretty new so i kinda have a feeling something is wrong with the alternator like its not charging the battery or something

 

[SkYLiNE]

Be sure to check the cables connected to the battery.. your scenario somewhat happened on my last car, and eventually the car wouldn't start. The battery turned out to be fine but the cables connected to the battery were extremely loose and corroded.

 

[phatintegra]

What about the coils....I check them 2 as well.

 

[tegfixin]

quick and easy charging system check is: turn on your headlights, when you try to start the engine the lights will get dim, but if they come back nice and bright once the engine is running, then your charging system is working. This is just a fast check only.

 

[98turbors]

This same thing happened to me after I put on my turbo..it turned out that I forgot to put the ground wire from the valve cover to the core support back on. I was driving home and about 1/4 of the way there the speedo died and the head lights dimmed. Then my tach started to stop and go. Finally my car just died at a stop light. I figured it was something with the turbo but it was just a careless mistake. once I hooked the ground wire back up it ran like a champ. So check your ground wire.