[Xee]

I began to notice a couple weeks ago when it started to get colder and I began using the heater.

If I drive for a while with everything on (headlights, fog-lights, radio, and heat at full blast) all the lights in the car will dim (you can notice it in the brightness of the cluster). When I turn the heater off everything brightens again. I took it to a shop and they tested the battery to make sure it was charging alright and found nothing wrong with it.

A couple days ago, I didn't notice the lights had dimmed and my radio turned itself off. Though as soon as I turned the heater off it came back on.

Things took a turn for the worse last night, coming back from school. I was about halfway home when I noticed the lights dimming again. I turned the heat off and everything brightened again. 2/3's of the way home though, while I was doing about 40 or 45mph I wanted to test how the heater effected the car. I quickly turned the heater on at full blast. The whole care jerked, almost as if it were braking and the radio turned itself off. I quickly turned the heater off and the radio immediately came back on and the car started driving normally again, although it seemed a bit rough. Everything happened so quickly though I didn't think to check the speedo to see if in fact I had slowed down or if the lights had dimmed.

When I got to the street I lived on, doing about 30 or 35mph I turned the heater on at full blast again, seeing if I could reproduce what had happened, but the car continued to drive fine.

Any ideas?

 

[Xee]

Originally posted by Mantioch@Dec 9 2003, 10:00 AM
I suggest having your battery tested at your local AutoZone. A dying battery can cause all sorts of oddities and can cause the car to miss or "jerk". The radio coming on is very strange. Where was that thread about the car exorcism... 

Well, the radio came on because it had been on before the power went off. It's the same as when you leave the radio on when you turn the car off. When you turn the car on the radio starts up immediately.

As for the "dying battery" theory, I hope that's all it is. I've been planning on picking up one anyway. All the multi-colored battery acid on the existing one looks terrible and I just want a better battery than the generic crap I have now.

 

[Xee]

Is there any way I can do a load test myself by purchasing the necessary equipment if it's not too expensive? Or am I better off just taking it somewhere?