This question goes out for thermo but anyone else who can help please feel free to join. So when I start my car I see that the little screen on the dashboard where the mileage is shown pulses and the interior lights pulse as well. As well as my headlights. They get bright and dim down to regular brightness. Battery and alternator are prefect. I did change out the negative cable from the battery to the ground but still didnt work. Thermo recommend to change out the power cable from the battery to the starter but people are telling me that thats not the issue. Plz help and thank you

 

manuel, first off, welcome to the Forums. As you are finding out, lots of good info here and friendly people. Please stop by the New Member Section and tell us a little bit about yourself. This will give you a chance to meet those that make this place what it is.

As for your problem, I am assuming you have halogen headlights. You will see the lights changing brightness a little bit right after starting the car as the car is varying the voltage in the car some to recharge the battery from what it lost during starting the car. It does this by raising the voltage output of the alternator up to between 14.4 and 15 VDC right after the motor is started. It will then lower the voltage once it thinks it has added enough energy back to the battery to make up for what was pulled out during starting. The voltage will then ramp down to a fairly constant 13.7 VDC.

What I would say to do is to connect a multimeter across the battery of your car and start it. Watch the multimeter from the time you connect it (with the motor off) until the voltage stabilizes. You should see it start off at 12.6 VDC (if lower than this, your battery is not at full charge), it will drop to around 11.0 VDC (maybe just over 11.0) as you are cranking the car, jump up to around 14.4 VDC right after the motor catches, remain there for a period of time (normally about 15 seconds or so, length of time is not important) and then it will ramp down to 13.7 VDC. If you are seeing it bounce around (ie, changing by more than 1 VDC over and over), then there is a loose wire or something of the like and further investigation needs to occur.

 

I do have halogen headlights that I know for sure. I did have one of my mechanics look at it and he thinks that I have a short somewhere within the wiring. He noticed that one the relays under the hood was super hot compared to the others. He said that might be the clicking sounds I hear when the relay gets hot. Whats your opinion on that? And thank you for the response

 

Manuel, I would try swapping the relay with one that is similar to it. See if the relay in the same slot is hot or if the relay that you moved is hot. IT is possible that if you have a lot of current going through a relay, that it will get a little warm. If you tell me the relay number, i can give a more detailed response.

 

Hey thermo so my buddy took my car to one of his friends shop were he works on foreign cars and explained to him the issues I was telling you about. The guy told him it was a bad climate control unit. He said to replace. He also said that its a common problem with the x type and he's changed out a few before with the same issues. What do you think? Im still in doubt.. thanks

 

Manuel, unplug the climate module and see if the lights do the same thing. If they do, then your problem isn't the climate control module. If not, then you have proven it is the problem. It will take about a half hour to do, but it may save you a fair amount of money. If it is the problem, then you are just that many more steps closer to replacing the module.

 

Ok will do. Thanks alot thermo for the help. Im going to get started now. Thank you