I left my car at the dealer for about 24 hours overnight. They replaced the supercharger - bla bla bla. So I get my car back, and it's on empty (originally 50% full), I look at the trip miles (originally at 2000 miles as I was keeping track of when I needed to rotate my tires and apparently they reset the ECU) and it says 60 miles. Some little punk mechanic at the dealer took my car for a little joy ride apparently, probably had sex with some midgets in, i dunno. Anyway, the whole gas thing is fine - Scion's sending me a $75 AMEX card. I'm still a little perplexed about the 60 miles put on it because god knows what happened (I have friends that work in dealerships and I've seen them stop by my house with customer cars...) Long story short, my battery light now comes on and off every once in a while. Anyone know what this could be exactly? Battery needs a charge? Battery's almost dead? Alternator problems? Thanks in advance.

 

maybe they drove to make sure there was no issue with your s/c

 

o yeah, i have no doubt about that. i know they perform a road test to make sure everything's working fine, but 60 miles? even the guy at scion corp was surprised - either way, proper protocol is they're supposed to fill up my gas tank to where it was when the car was dropped off and bill TRD for the fuel as part of the warranty. I got the AMEX car because I, rightfully so, complained (gas is $3.43 here). It was at least $24 worth of gas they used up.

anyway, anyone know why the battery light would come on? it just goes on then off sporadically. Only stays on for a few secs but it just keeps coming back. it's haunting me.

 

you know who probably knows why your battery light comes on...OWNER'S MANUAL!

open it up, take a glance, see what it says.

also, check your battery, if you still have your stock battery, it actually has a very clear and easy to read indicator on it if the battery is dead or needs charging or whatever.

 

Nope -- it just says "see dealer"

I had a loose wire on the alternator which caused the light to come on and off. Since I tightened it no more battery light

 

my bad. for some reason, i always look at my repair manual and forget about the owners manual.

"When the charging system warning light comes on while the engine is running, malfunctions such as the engine drive belt being broken may have occured. If the warning light comes on, immediately stop the vehicle in a safe place and contact your Scion dealer."

uh oh. lol. engine belt looks fine though. any other ideas?

 

it probably says 60 miles because yeah.. like you mentioned.. they probably reset your ecu..

but really it sounded more like that they disconnected the battery during the reinstallation..

though you have basically now proof that it was driven at least 60 miles after the labor was done.. good to know they took care of that gas part..

but still perplexing as to why your battery thing is goin' on... belt problem? alternator not charging up the battery properly?

could be a number of things.

 

Im telling you check the alternator connections

 

Check your battery terminal connections as well. If they reset the ECU, they could have very likely just did the quick unplug the neg terminal for a few mins and put it on and not tighten it down. Worth double checking.

 

I agree, check your alternator connections. If that's not it, test it out either yourself or have someone test it for you and/or it could be the battery isn't holding the charge or the alternator isn't charging it properly. Like SquallLHeart said, it could be a number of things.

I don't know what the range of volts its supposed to be at, but I'm sure you can look it up.

Good luck and if you find out what it is, let us know!

 

Talk it easy, yes 60 miles seems a little much but the tC's won't throw certain codes until the car has been driven enough I had problems with my o2 sensor and sim wouldn't throw a code until 20 miles or more sometimes it tool 250-350 miles. He was just making sure everything was good. But I do agree with you they could have put gas back to the level you had or at least filled it up.

 

if the car is running and the battery light comes on it is an alternator problem

 

why dont you just take it back to them and tell them the light is comming on? or you could check the connections like everyones saying.

 

i have a crazy schedule. you want to take it for me?

 

there is really no need to take it to the dealer, if it is on all the time go get your alternator checked at autozone, it will be the problem and if it is a bad alternator your going to be buying a new battery as well. If it just flashes on and off the connection to your alternator is bad. All that light means is something isn't getting the right amount of voltage and if the car is running your battery is completely out of the picture and it is all on your alternator