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Battery and Brake light

3K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  Xterra Mike 
#1 ·
So after the rain from TS Hanna came through here I decided to go get the X dirty. Well this hole had already wreaked havoc on a S-10 that is now dead in the water and has already been towed away. So I figure what the hey I'll break my truck too. Well I went through a few times no problem. Drove a little further down the trail and when through another, not as big or deep. Now my Battery light and Brake light are both on.
It does feel like the E-brake is slightly engaged but not real bad. I got it home and disconnected the battery for a while hoping to reset any glitches and it's still there. Then I noticed my horn wasn't honking when I locked it, so I emptied the water out of that and noticed a click coming from the fuse box under the hood. Now I don't remember that but it could be normal so I checked a few fuses before it got dark on me and they all looked good. So any recommendations on where to start with this?


 
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#2 ·
when you here the clicking are you hitting the lock button???? and i would look at all the relays to see if they got wet... also if your batt light is on you prob ruined your alternator.... take it to autozone and have them do a load test on it....

you know the highest amount of watter you can cross is up to the top of your headlight right...
 
#4 ·
the waters not that deep its just that initial surge that went over the hood, it's just over knee deep... thanks for the comments so far
Yeah, it clicks when I am hitting the lock button.... I am a not familiar too familiar with this, so is there a way to put a meter on the relays to check and make sure there is no short???
 
#5 ·
you know with the rush of water it still can get into the intake.... pull your filter and make sure it didnt get wet.... and if its clicking then the relay is working, when you press on the horn in the X dose it work????? also there is 2 horns on mine did you drain them both????
 
#12 ·
Well from what I have read I think its going to be the alternator as well, but the click coming from the relay concerns me too... is there a good way to check the relay or do you just have to replace it? I also just went out and was messing under the hood a little and the car battery itself is making some noise... just a real light noise (I don't really know how to describe it) kinda like what an old record player sounded like when there was no music (if that makes any sense)....
 
#13 ·
If the alternator is shot, the battery making noise could be from it powering all of the electricals on it's own now instead of having help from the alternator. I would leave the battery disconnected until you need to drive or you could end up stranded and needing a jump. With the alternator out of the picture, EVERYTHING is now running off your battery so be prepared to get stranded because as long as your X is running, there will be a constant drain on the batt and no alternator means no re-charge.
 
#14 ·
Yea and thats not a good thing...it happened to me a week ago
 
#15 ·
the clicking of the relay is fine thats what they do.... when they enguage they click over and make contact with the right terminal.... here is some examples.... when you turn on your fogs you get a click out of the relay... when you step on the brake you get a click out of the relay when you turn on your blinkers you hear the relay cause thats what makes the clicking noise.......


if you drove semi's you would hear it all the time the relay pannel is in the cab and everytime you step on the brakes they click.....
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the comments...
Good news, The lights went out when I got on the highway and then came back on when I got off, after stopping by pep boys and going to autozone they went off and have not come back on. Autozone tested the alternator and said its good, then tested the battery and said that it needs to be replaced. So battery = much less $$$ than the alternator. So if the relay is good then what would be wrong with the horn? I have gotten water in it before and it just was a muted honk, now there is nothing. Can I test the plug to make sure it is getting juice? Or do I need to replace the horn?
 
#18 ·
the way a relay works is its like an automatic light switch that gets turned on by an electrical coil. So when the coil gets powered up the click you hear is the on/off being engaged an not engaged. SO like they were saying when anything gets turned on your going to hear a click out of the relay but as long as the lights/ brakes/ etc.. don't turn off on their own then you shouldn't hear a click from the relay. I havn't looked at the relays on the X except for the fuel pump one. But if you can pull the relay off and see just the electrical tabs that it plugs into there should be four two contacts are for the coil and the other two are the switching points. you could jump those with a jumper wire and turn the horn right on
 
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