Electrical peculiarities...

[LilRedBuggy]

A while ago I started my car up and realized that my clock wasn't on. Well, I continued going and quickly figured out that my dash lights and clock would go out when the brake pedal was depressed and then return when I let it go. Somehow this kind of magically disappeared one day and now I was driving back to school during the night, with my lights on naturally, and felt the plastic piece by the dimming knob and headlights thing and it was hot! So hot I could keep my fingers on it for too long. Then, upon ejection on my cd, I noticed that it was warmer than usual. This only happens when the lights are on. There was also a time when all my interior lights wouldn't come on at all. I kind of feel that all this stuff is somehow related, any ideas?

[Dominic]

#1 - The stock voltage regulator is pretty bad on the V6 alternators, and when you brake often the voltage will drop... If the battery is weak (sub 12V but still enough to crank) this can drop the voltage below the radio's 12V limit and might kill the clock until the voltage goes back up.

#2 - Dimmer switches get hot because they are essentially a varistor or a variable resistor. Resistors get hot, and so the dimmer you set that dial, the hotter it will run. Also, CD's typically get kinda warm if they're played for a while; I think my old stock unit warmed mine nicely...

Just be on the lookout because you might be up for a new battery and/or alternator in the near future... Hopefully not but thats often the case on these cars. [img]smile.gif[/img]