UPDATE to battery and brake lights flashing..

[m.w75]

Yea let me first say thanks to the replies I got on my last question about the battery and brake lights flashing the first time I noticed it and the second and last time they were steady for a few seconds. Well I took the first repliers advice and took my car to Autozone for an alternator and battery test and the guy said that they are performing just fine, excellent in fact. So I guess it must be with the wiring or something. If nothing that major is at risk, I guess I'll just keep riding this excellent car that just turned 182K! Thanks again yall.

[jeremydc]

Hate to break it to you but if those lights are flashing even intermittently then eventually your car will die. My car would flash for a month then die. Its in my yard right now and im getting another alt soon.

[REN69]

Same here... just waiting for the inevitable, lol.

[SCT]

Change the alternator now while you can. It'll only take less than 30 minutes. Beats an hour or more waiting for a tow truck somewhere.

A reason why they might flash is because of a failing diode inside the alternator. It's able to still work but not at the level it should AND will eventually die completely soon. So, if you test it (ie taking it to autozone for a bench test) it's going to pass because it's putting out something but the reading would definately be low. Otherwise the car wouldn't throw a fault.

[RogueMoog]

Instead of replacing the whole alternator, can you just replace the voltage regulator (about $40 I think) and the brushes, if they're worn? Or is this one of those things that you either need to completely replace, or have rebuilt at an 'auto electric shop?'

[SCT]

You know, after I read this yesterday, my corolla would have the lights blink as well. But it blinked for maybe less than a minute. It hasn't came back on. I'll be damned. I just replaced a cracked radiator a few weeks ago. One thing after the other. But I think the alt I've installed has been problematic from the start. Ever since the install, there would be a ticking sound. When the car warms up, it's gone... hopefully the ticking is from the alt, I'll be damned if its anything else right now. I doubt its anything mechanical within the motor.