Flikering lights

Good question.
Someone here sugested that I swap a battery with another car. unfortunately
I only own 1 car, and this is it.

I'd gladly buy another (or two!) SC2's - they are fun to drive! My friend
rode in my stock SC2 and liked it enough to buy a performance modded one.

I should also note that this is my first car, I live in an apartment, and
the only tools I have are at my parents 30 minutes away.

I dont know any mechanics, or anything like that that I trust since I moved
here 8 months ago.
"Peter" > wrote in message
...
>I have the same problem I started the car then disconnected the positive
> cable to the battery so car was justed using alternator turned on lights
> still flickered tried stop lights stilled flckered and dimmed for a
> moment.
> should a good alternater not do that when not connected to battery. or is
> that normal
> when just running on alternater
>
> peter
>
> "HyperCube33" > wrote in message
> ...
>> My car (1997 Saturn SC2)'s lights flicker constantly.
>> Supposedly, I recently had my alternator changed out, after it abruptly
> died
>> on the highway.
>>
>> My car has almost always had some kind of flickering light problem, but
>> in
>> the past months its gotten worse, and is exsecially worse over 55Mph and
>> when I tap the brakes (And sometimes the battery indicator light will
> flash
>> on.)
>>
>> In reference to what lights flash - all of the interior ones, and the
>> exteriors at as far as I can tell the "pulse" of my car (piston fire).
>>
>> When using my cd player hooked up to the 12volt lighter port and tape
>> player, it makes a high pitch whine that gets higher and louder as my car
>> revs up, if this helps.
>>
>> Anything is exteremly appreciated.
>>
>> PS -
>> My ground wires have all recently been cleaned and the battery connectors
>> are not corrroded either, but after cleaning my car seemed to work
> 'normal'
>> for a while.
>>
>>
>
>

Disconnecting the battery while engine running on a modern car is a big
no-no (as is pulling off spark plug boot to check spark on the fly).

The battery serves to ballast the charging system and evens out the
pulsation of the charging system. Without the battery in circuit, you can
get some pretty large voltage excursions and transients that can potentially
damage ALL the electronic devices in the car. The electrical system in an
automobile is actually pretty hostile, approaching military requirements on
design practices and component reliability. Many of the newer modules are
better designed and can take more abuse but do you want to take a chance?

Similarly with pulling off a spark plug wire while the engine is running,
the voltage no longer arcs to ground and the output of the spark coil is no
longer 'clamped'. This causes the spark coil primary voltage to rise very
high and stress the transistor that drives it.

So, to paraprase 'Dirty Harry', "Do you feel lucky?" if so, keep doing the
same 'ol.

Oppie (electrical engineer)

"Peter" > wrote in message
...
>I have the same problem I started the car then disconnected the positive
> cable to the battery so car was justed using alternator turned on lights
> still flickered tried stop lights stilled flckered and dimmed for a
> moment.
> should a good alternater not do that when not connected to battery. or is
> that normal
> when just running on alternater
>
> peter
>