ok i was driving up this hill about a mile away from home...

i look at the dash and the mph needle is jumping up and down, like its doing jumping jacks... i was going about 50-60 and it was bouncing from 40-75

so i get onto the comunity streets... and it does the same thing but very mildly cause im only goin 15-20 (but this time both rpm and mph needles were jumping in sequence. no check engine light)... as im going up the last hill i didnt push it cause i didnt know what was up but i think it had some major power issues, maybe not... but has anyone hurd of these simptoms?

 

Possible issue with the alternator. I will also ask if you just changed wheels and tires to a larger size? That may affect the speedometer needle also.

 

I once had a Beretta that would bounce up to 90mph when I was at a stoplight. That car was full of electrical gremlins...after I upgraded the stereo.

Perhaps there is a short somewhere in the system (due to the simultaneous gauge malfunction). Have you any stereo equipment installed (ie amps, distribution blocks, etc.)?

 

nope all stock...
just had front tire rod arms replaced today

 

Try replacing the fuse that runs the gauges, it may be getting weak.

 

Never heard of this one before. It may hold some truth in the case of rust build up around the contacts. I have never known of a fuse that gets weak though. In my experience they either transfer power or not. (blown fuse)

I havent studied the voltage supply lines to the console gages but if they use an inline voltage regulator, I would defenetely put my volt tester leads on it.


Marvin

 

Actually, I may have been thinking of the old fuses that you find in a second gen car cause I was discussing them with a friend when I saw this post. But it couldn't hurt to check the fuses anyway.

Sometimes my brain falls asleep here early in the morning at work.

 

Defenatly sounds like something power related. Check fuses and battery cables ect. Sometimes when I have a bad ground and I hit the turn signal all of the gauges jump.

 

after i took my car out of storage last year it did that, i would suggest you charge your battery first (it's free!) wait and see if it happens again, which would probably indicate an altinator issue, as already mentioned. Good luck.

 

yes i might believe this to be true...

the other day i was watching my gauges as i was driving, and i noticed when i layed into the pedal the power would come down,
(battery is 1 month old)
frequently i find the power in the orange, never above the 13 mark (unless cars been off for a few hours)

 

my old firebird did this a few years ago, every time i hit the brake it would jump, well i pulled over turned the ignition off asnd it never happined again

 

Sounds like your alternator if you replaced the battery a month ago and its always below 13 volts...

 

The same thing happend in my car when the alternator was on its last legs. Thats where my money is on.


Later,
-John

 

what does urs always chill at? even w/ my old battery that worked just fine, (my starter blew but i thought it was the battery)... my old battery was the same way, but like when i turn on my lights today it was in the orange, it worked its way back up soon after but, how much do alternators cost and are there better aftermarket ones?

 

Mine has been doing it since I first noticed. Long time ago. Its very subtle but if its related to the RPMS. Whenever I go beyong 3500 to 5500 RPMs the voltage drops. I even disconected the alternator and reved her up and logged a voltage drop of about 1 volt. Somehow my cars sucks lots of juice when reved up high and the alternator does not compensate. I know its time to replace my ALT but just to make my point across... my car has been doing it for at least 5 years.


Marvin