Blinking Battery Light

[LastExpo2000]

My battery light on the instrument panel started blinking on and off today (first noticed during the day). what does this mean? Also, when i put the key in the ignition and turned my truck on, I heard a fuzzy/white noise sound *this was in the morning). I don't know what this means. I have been having problems with my passenger headlight too. I was wondering if this could be causing a problem. I have those projector headlights and the leds are wired into the low beams instead of the parking lights. AND the volt meter on the instrument panel, reads normally.

It could be the alternator, but I hope not.

 

[SkyJumper]

Have you checked your grounds, battery and chassis and engine. Sounds to me that you have a possible faulty ground.

 

[LastExpo2000]

Have you checked your grounds, battery and chassis and engine. Sounds to me that you have a possible faulty ground.

I don't know how many grounds I have on the vehicle, or where to start looking. The only place I could think of is the possibly the wiring on the passenger headlight, but that would not explain why the battery light would come on during the day, since the headlights are off.

 

[SkyJumper]

If you have a bad negative ground at the battery to the block, it could cause a intermitten voltage drop. Or a short somewhere within your engine management wiring harness. I have seen this happen to if you have wateror moisture exposure to your engine management fuse box. Have you recently gone 4-wheeling or exposed it to excessive water in the engine bay? Or did you do anything as in maintenance or changes or repairs before this started?

 

[LastExpo2000]

If you have a bad negative ground at the battery to the block, it could cause a intermitten voltage drop. Or a short somewhaer within your engine management wiring harness. I have seen this happen to if you have wateror moisture exposure to your engine management fuse box. Have you recently gone 4-wheeling or exposed it to excessive water in the engine bay? Or did you do anything as in maintenance or changes or repairs before this started?

I had the oil changed and power steering changed two weeks ago. As for off roading/moisture exposure to that area then no. I only have been driving from home and school. This just started happening this morning.

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

How old is your battery? When was the last time you checked your drive belt? Although self-tensioning, could be time for a new one? Also agree on a floating ground. Was the white noise from the radio? When mine (alternator) acted up, all the gauges went "haywire" and the radio lost its memory and hissed white noise as well. Let us know what you find.

 

[LastExpo2000]

How old is your battery? When was the last time you checked your drive belt? Although self-tensioning, could be time for a new one? Also agree on a floating ground. Was the white noise from the radio? When mine (alternator) acted up, all the gauges went "haywire" and the radio lost its memory and hissed white noise as well. Let us know what you find.

The hiss was from the radio, the battery is 2 years old I believe. My gauges aren't acting up, but I don't know where to look for the grounds.

 

[Thermo]

LastExpo, I want you to start the truck and turn on the headlights and the dash fan. Now, rev the engine up (once at temp) up to around 3,000-4000 RPM. Does this cause the battery light to come on. If so, your alternator is starting to go.

As for your HID lights, check to make sure that the wiring is good and has solid connections. After that, odds are your ballast is starting to go and in that case, because of how the HID ballasts work, that can be inducing noise into the electrical system of the truck.