Anyone know what's going on?

Not sure if anyone's comes across this at all before or know what it?

with the stereo on and when I put my foot down and floor it, the stereo sound cuts off for a second or so.

This always seems to happens when the car is cold or in the first few miles of driving.

I also noticed today with the interior lights on, when I tap the accelerator/ rev it, the interior lights blip and flicker.

Not sure if these are both related or if its leading to something serious?.

Any ideas?

Sounds like a battery going bad, or a alternator problem. Take the car by, & have someone at a auto parts store check it for free! Definitely the sign of low voltage!


Good Luck

Once the car is running, all electrical power is effectively delivered by the alternator. Your symptoms are a tell tale sign the alternator is going bad, not the battery going bad.

Originally Posted by petriej

Once the car is running, all electrical power is effectively delivered by the alternator. Your symptoms are a tell tale sign the alternator is going bad, not the battery going bad.

+1. I would have the alternator checked. You could do it if you have a multimeter as well. If you connect the leads to the ground (Car frame) and to the +Pos terminal before starting the car, you should be reading battery volatge of 12V DC. Then start the car and you should see the voltage go up to approximately 14V DC. this should remain a constant value. If the volatge is irratic, then the alternator regulator might be bad. (I'm going by memory here so bare with me )

Originally Posted by pablo645

+1. I would have the alternator checked. You could do it if you have a multimeter as well. If you connect the leads to the ground (Car frame) and to the +Pos terminal before starting the car, you should be reading battery volatge of 12V DC. Then start the car and you should see the voltage go up to approximately 14V DC. this should remain a constant value. If the volatge is irratic, then the alternator regulator might be bad. (I'm going by memory here so bare with me )

Exactly. as low as 13.5 is probably OK, but you want to see 13.7 to 15V to charge the battery properly. Any variation that isn't accounted for (slight dips when you turn on the lights, slight jumps when you rev the car, etc.) is a faulty regulator, or alternator, or both. When you get a new alternator, it should come with a new regulator. Unless you are 100% certain it is not the regulator, replace it too!

If your stereo is acting up when the car is 1st cranked in the morning, I say battery. My Navigation screen used to always flash on & off 1st thing in the morning. The strange thing was that it always did that after getting my morning coffee, making a left hand turn? After that, I did not have anymore problems that day. One sign that I have noticed on both my 645 & 750 are, the CD changer will always start cycling or make a clicking sound. This went away immediately after changing batteries in both cars.

Hope this might help!