All electrical stuff shorts when braking...

[Silver Streak]

Yeah, it doesn't happen consistently...but when I brake, my headlights and indiglos dim considerable. Sometimes, my headlights, indiglos and stereo will totally shut off for a sec when I brake. I had to highbeam someone once, and all of the above shut off for a sec. Sometimes for a brief second, the battery light comes on when this happens. This all occurs while driving.

Anyone else had this problem? What could it be? Bad alternator, dying battery (it's a Diehard, 3 years old) or some bad wiring?

[EKam]

Is it during high or low speed braking?

Sounds like your alternator, won't be the battery because it happens you're driving (instead of idling).

[Eye8Pussies]

I think ekam is partially right, w/ the alternator......but that means it'll also be the battery....

cuz if the alternator's weak, but the battery's still good, you won't get the dimming, etc, which probably means the battery can't hold a charge either

but that's just what I think from my experiences w/ a dying battery

[Silver Streak]

It happens even when idling...I can make the dimming even worse when I turn the steering wheel at idle....but it happens at any speed.

Car starts fine everyday, drives normally and everything....

[MRQtwinturbo]

check to see if u have a loose battery terminal......

[silverstreakin]

underdrive pulley?

[Phi]

^ speaking of pullies...would slipping belts cause the problem?

[OEMonkey]

I'll throw in my guess-

short to power.

[silverstreakin]

phi-absolutely

[lcarocha]

Alternator, specifically the voltage regulator.
Service the whole unit, it's not that expensive

[Silver Streak]

Originally posted by OEMonkey
I'll throw in my guess-

short to power.

Please explain? I have a lot of excess wiring I did in my car and I want to make sure it's not that. Everytime I exit my car I get a huge shock....

My battery terminals are nice and secure, so I guess I should go get the alt/battery tested? That AVR test they do at car shops should tell me eh?

[Tercel GTS]

Have you looked around the brake pedal area to see if a wire is being pinched or pulled when you brake? With add-on wiring this is very possible, one may be wrapped around the steering also.

[Silver Streak]

^ no, because when I used my high beams, it dimmed my lights as well....

[Tercel GTS]

Have you disassembled the positive battery terminal cluster and cleaned all of it? I recently repaired an Altima that had hidden corrosion.

[OEMonkey]

Originally posted by Silver Streak
Please explain? I have a lot of excess wiring I did in my car and I want to make sure it's not that. Everytime I exit my car I get a huge shock....

My battery terminals are nice and secure, so I guess I should go get the alt/battery tested? That AVR test they do at car shops should tell me eh?

I think I misread your first post. but I'll help a bit more with a few tips. with an electrical prob. you must first identify the fault category. does the load work poorly(high resistance), not at all(open), or are fuses blowing(short to ground or faulty load)?

short to power- this is when one circuit powers another such as the horn sounding when the brakes are applied. the brake light is shorted to the horn circuit. short circuits, whether short to ground or short to power, are mainly caused by improper wiring or damaged insulation.

high resistance probs occur when theres unwanted resistance in the circuit. higher resistance=lower current. lower current=lower voltage available to the normal load in the circuit. corrosion at a connector becomes an additional load that uses some of the circuits v., preventing full v. to the normal load in the circuit. I suggest checking all your wiring work. should always do a clean job(solder, shrink). these kind of prob. can be a pain as I'm sure you already know.