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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 02:30
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hey all my dash is trying to tell me something but i cant really figure out what it is...heres the story....had the car serviced and tuned...mechanic somehow fucked my radiator fan...i didnt realise this till i took it for a drive...a whole bunch of lights on my dash came on, when i pulled over my coolant was boiling ect, since replaced the fan witha 162 fan and it seems to work allright...but when ive been driving for 15-20 mins all the lights pop up on my dash again...overheating light, battery light, the little car with the back lights on? and my turbo light all come on, flash on and off really quickly sometimes, and sorta fade in and out sometimes...when i give it a bit of a rev they dissapear for a bit....my water temp guage reads just under half way, and when i pull over and get under the hood, nothing really seems excessively hot (like it was first time it did it when i found out the fan was buggered)
btw, im not losing coolant, my intercooler is completely full and not leaking, im feeling no power loss at all, the only thing that seems to be wrong is the dash going crazy at me
so any1 know what my cars trying to tell me....or is it just another issue all together?
btw im talking about a 165
thanks in advance
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 04:20
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Do the headlights change brightness at all?
If so could be the regulator on the alternator causing the voltage to fluctuate excessively. This has some funny lead on effects with the ECU and dash sometimes!
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 04:26
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the headlights dim very very slightly when the dash lights come on, its barely noticable though, i hope it aint an altinator related problem as my altinator is only 3 months old :S
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 06:27
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dodgy earths? or dead alternator?
do the dash/headlight sim when you stomp on the brakes?
is possible that in killing the original thermofan, other electrics were broken?
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 10:43
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i was thinking the later, now that i think about the altinator sorta makes sense, it may have been damaged from heat the first time, i understand they can be pretty sensitave to heat?, but yeah it only happens after ive been driving for 15-20 mins, the headlights dim a little when i stomp on the brakes, but no more than they always have (only noticable if ur really looking for it), as i said tho the altinator is only 3 months old...and its a champion
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2003
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
February 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Mon, 22 August 2005 13:33
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Bosch alternators usually sit at about 13.8 and toyota originals around 14.2. You cant guage alternator function from headlights etc. You can get a perfectly good multimeter form jaycar for $10 bucks. Not too much of an outlay.
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Location:
Brisbane, QLD
Registered:
August 2005
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 04:29
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try turning ur interior light on when your dash is going nuts, and see if its doing strange things, that should eliminate the voltage regulator
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 05:32
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no worries yeah my interior light doesnt have a problem...or my power windows ect, only my dash lights, the speedo,tacho and othe guage lighting doesnt mess around, its only every warning light on my dash EXCEPT the check engine light, apart from those warning lights and the little turbo light, there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 06:35
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My advice is don't take it back to the same mechanic 
Try resetting your ECU as well I suppose amongst all the other things ppl have suggested -> although I dunno if it'll help much
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 13:26
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By sounds of what you have experienced so far it probably isn't the alternator.
As for other suggestions... bit stumped. ECUs are pretty well protected on their inputs from accidental shorting etc so it would be hard to damage it that way.
Could just be bad connections on one of the wiring plugs, not necessarily an Earth either.
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 21:39
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i took it to work last night and spent a while driving it...it definately only happens after 15 mins of driving or so, the warning lights are sort of on/off for a while then just sorta stay on until u stop the car...sometimes they'll dissapear if u give it a boot full and such.but yeah from what i can tell it certainly isnt overheating or anything wrong with it, do yas think it could be a buggered temp sensor tripping out on me or something?
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Tue, 23 August 2005 23:43
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Go and have a look and find out 
btw - I didn't know that ST165s had an 'overheating' light...last time my car overheated no lights came on!
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 01:29
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little warning light on the far left of the warning lights...looks like something with heatwaves comming off it...im assuming toyotas attempt at making a light of a radiator with heat waves lol i dunno
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 02:34
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| -=DV=- wrote on Wed, 24 August 2005 09:29 |
little warning light on the far left of the warning lights...looks like something with heatwaves comming off it...im assuming toyotas attempt at making a light of a radiator with heat waves lol i dunno
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Isn't that the cat. temperature light? My XX has one of those.
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 03:38
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it could very well be the cat temp light...if so whats it telling me when it comes on? why would toyota find it more important to warn drivers of an overheated cat than overheating in general?
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 03:41
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Because you already have a temperature gauge for the engine temperature!
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 05:20
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lol fair enuff...im still stumped at the significance of the heat of the cat that ya need a warning light for it?...but im thick and uneducated aswell...
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 05:26
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Cat doesn't work properly until it's up to temp, and that takes time, as the exhaust gases need to heat up first, which in turn heat the cat.
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 11:03
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I think it is a cat over temperature light as if the cat gets too hot it can be damaged.
It might have been damaged when the engine overheated. You could try another sensor and drive it around to see if the problem still occurs.
You could also try just unplugging the sensor but this would more than likely cause a fault to be flagged within the ECU potentially having other knock on effects.
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Wed, 24 August 2005 11:13
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guys i think ive found my problem, as suggested before it could be my altinator, tonight at work when i was driving around, i noticed when the warning lights on the dash and such came on, the bat voltage guage dropped a fair bit, my alt is only 3 months old and its got a years warrenty so ill try and get it replaced and see if that sorts out my probs....ill keep yas informed
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Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Thu, 25 August 2005 11:35
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Before getting it replaced, when the fault occurs measure the battery voltage and see if there is a problem with the alternator. Saves you spending $$$ on something that may or may not be the problem.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Thu, 25 August 2005 11:51
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Disconnect the Negative (-) on the battery, come back in 10mins, connect it. This should reset the ECU. Take it for a drive, pref 15minutes or more to see if it happens again.
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Thu, 25 August 2005 14:00
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| earlyrolla wrote on Thu, 25 August 2005 21:35 |
Before getting it replaced, when the fault occurs measure the battery voltage and see if there is a problem with the alternator. Saves you spending $$$ on something that may or may not be the problem.
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ive been watching closely and the bat voltage guage drops a bit when the fault occurs, well at first it didnt drop much...then it started dropping a bit....now its dropping poo loads, the altinator is only 3 months old and still under warrenty, i talked to the guys at repco today they said just bring the buggered one in and they'll give me a new one...so im gonna take it out tomorrow and get a new one in there..see if it keeps happening.
matt-ae86, ive done that several times man, the fault keeps comming back. hopefully it is just the alt failing when it gets up to a certain temp
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Location:
Newcastle, NSW
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: GT4--dash lights going crazy at me...help!!
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Fri, 26 August 2005 13:15
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well i got the new altinator in there today..aswell as a new boost controller koz my old one fell apart a day after the mechanic touched my car.....no more dash warning lights at all, i have a shockingly low idle and its stalling alot though, but id say thats koz i split an intake hose accidentally and its sucking unmetered air...but anyway the dash problems gone...thanks for all the replys and help guys
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, im pretty confident ive ruled out any overheating of the engine/cooling system, if its just electrical do yas think its safe to drive for work?...no car means no money for me unfortunately.