1998 Chev Lumina Malfunction - Electrical & Lighting Systems

Question: When starting the 98 Lumina early in the morning, the dash lights may or may not come on with the headlights. Usually they will come on slowly then dim and come back up, with no particular regularity. It does not seem to have a cross problem with other lights in the car. The curious thing is that two months ago the car died - we had a new battery put in and it lasted about a month and it died. The dashlight problems seemed to mirror the time the battery was losing power. In other words, the dashlights seemed to be working when the battery was new but gradually the above problem returned and then the battery died. We then had the car taken to a dealership that I have faith in and they reported the alternator not doing its job and replaced both the alternator and battery and did a few other things to the tune of $400.00. Guess what, everything was going along swimmingly for a couple of weeks, and then the dashlights again started to act up. Again, the car died out on the highway and again both the battery and alternator were changed - only $240.00 this time. It has now been about two weeks and the dashlights are again coming on slowly and dimming and coming back up rather irratically. I know that it seems strange that the action of the dashlights are somehow related to this other major problem, but I think they are related. Something is draining the juice out of the battery and I believe it is connected to the dashlight problem. Any takers on this one? Gary

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Technican: Hi Gary, If I had this car in my shop, I would first check the alternator now, before it quits on the road. I believe the dash light symptom is occurring because of low voltage.... most likely the alternator, or a bad ground wire, or a wire going to the dash. I suspect the alternator, or alternator wiring because the ending of dying on the road. The dash lights cannot kill the alternator, the alternator can cause the lights to go crazy. Check the voltage right away, make sure you drive it while you can to one of the shops where you already paid for it to be fixed. The alternator and battery should be completely warranteed, with no charge whatsoever to you unless an additional problem is found.

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1998 Chev Lumina Malfunction - Electrical & Lighting Systems

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