Battery Overcharging?

[BugDiddy]

Hey guys whats up

Today out of nowhere my dome light came on and my door ajar idiot light too. Having symptoms like this in the past, I tested the battery voltage

Running was 14.15 v
Engine off was 13.22 v
The battery has some small amount of acid coming through the top.

It has a ~4 month old alternator, and the battery is less than a year old.

Has anyone had anything like this happen before?

[BugDiddy]

Ok, so I just tested the battery voltage again after letting the car sit for 5 minutes and it went down to 12.4 v

It trickles down from ~13.3 v down to 12.4 v after letting sit

So yeah.. I'm pretty sure its a bad battery

[toyomoho]

The battery voltage will drop after you turn the engine off.

12.4V is about 70% charge.

Have you checked the door switches?

[BugDiddy]

ok i think im just dumb

I automatically associated idiot lights with bad alternator or battery because thats what happened when my alternator was going

I think its just a problem with the door ajar circuit.

I guess ill just take a look at the door switches

i didnt realize battery voltage drops after you shut the car off lol
i thought it just went 12.6 and stayed there

[91_ToYoTa_CaMrY]

When your altenator is bad your brake light, light light, and charge battery lights come on and in my case everytime I pressed my brake they would come on, and press the gas and it would go away.
I dont think its your altenator.

[BugDiddy]

ok upon looking at the doors i didnt see anything obviously wrong.

I'm guessing the switch that controls the dome light is the one covered in the little rubber boot? How do I remove/check them?

[Mike Gerber]

If it's like the generation 3 switches, (not really sure) just pull the boot up from the bottom. That should expose 1 10MM hex head bolt. Remove the bolt and pull out the switch just enough to see the back side of the switch. Don't remove it from the car if you don't have to. If the wiring drops inside the door you will have to disassemble the door to retrieve it. Chances are the back side of the switch is all rusty. If it is, clean everything with a wire brush and apply some dielectric grease on everything back there to prevent rust from forming again. Also clean the bolt of all rust. It acts to ground the switch to the frame of the car. Do all 4 switches. See if this helps with the problem. If not, you will have to do a dark current draw test.

Mike

[BugDiddy]

yeah it ended up being the drivers door switch...

all i did was tighten the 10 mm bolt and the light went off..

but i should probably clean them all anyway since they are indeed rusty

thanks for the help doods

[Mike Gerber]

"all i did was tighten the 10 mm bolt and the light went off.."

That 10MM bolt acts as a ground for that circuit. The rust was probably keeping it from making a good ground. Doing what I suggested in my previous post will take only a few minutes each and should keep your problem from returning for a very long time.

Mike