Dashboard Indicators Flickering On & Off

[a.p.barron]

Hey guys,

So my Z started doing something very bizarre. When I warm up the car in the morning, the charging system indicator and the stop/tail light indicator flicker on and off. When I rev my engine, they go away briefly but come back. Once my Z is warmed up a bit, everything is fine and 100% normal. I don't think it's my alternator or battery because my alternator has been replaced less than 7K miles ago and the battery less than 10k. While it was doing this, I checked the voltage of the battery, and it was fine. Any ideas as to what's going on? I included a video so you can see what I'm talking about:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5sQmNXhFK4[/youtube]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Alex-

[300ZXttZMAN]

Wow Alex that is very bizarre. You think it could possibly be a bad connection in the speedo cluster itself??

[nissanfreak12]

Get the alternator checked again, that a huge sign it is going out. Even though its new very well could have been a bad on or something happened to it. Another thing to check is the wiring from the alt. Could be corrosion or loose wire.

[gnozahs]

My money is on the alternator. Did you get an OEM Nissan alternator or auto parts alternator?

[Nismo Moose]

I had the same exact problem then my alternator blew.

Oddly after fixing my headlights lamp on the dashboard does not light up ever anymore :/

[datdude407]

alternator 100%...Happened to me about a year ago 7 i needed to replace the reman that was installed when I brought the car.

http://www.z1motorsports.com/product_in ... ts_id=3140


Fork over the extra $25 and get the TT for the extra 10 amps. Helps with all the electronics draining juice

[es.biggs]

My money is on alternator too...Check battery voltage when the lights are flickering like that, then check it again holding the throttle around 3-4k rpm - or wherever the lights go away. I have seen plenty of defective new parts, especially with reman and aftermarket parts.

[a.p.barron]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

So today, I took out my multi-meter and before I even started it, I checked the battery. It was at 12.32v. :-\ Then I started the car, turned on the lights and stereo, and tested the battery again. The battery now read 11.83v, that's definitely not good. At this point the charging system lamp was on, and the stop/tail light lamp was flickering. Then I waited for a bit with the multi-meter and watched it go from 11.83v to 14.26v, and all the lamps turned off.

I'm confused because even with the lower voltage, the car still cranks fairly fast and starts up without any issues. It also runs like top. There's no hesitation, bogging down, or any of that. Here's kind of a stupid question: Could over-tightening the alternator belt cause something like this? The reason I ask is because I had it adjusted and it started doing this more often. It was still doing it before the adjustment, but now it does it consistently on every cold start.

[nissanfreak12]

Are you sure its hooked up tight? Not just the main plug, but the wire that goes to the rear of the alt?

[a.p.barron]

Update: You guys were right. It was the alternator. It ended up failing completely, but luckily I noticed something was wrong before I left my house. I got it replaced for free, since it was under warranty, and now my baby runs smooth! :-D