battery light flickering

so i took my new truck (08 tacoma DCSB 4x4 trd off road) thru the car wash today for the first time... and the battery light starting flickering like 3 minutes after i left on my way home. sometimes it was steady for like 2 seconds and then it would just flicker. most of the time its flickering. i checked all the connections, nothing was loose. i panicked and immediately called the dealer since the truck is 3 days old to me. they said come right in and well look. they checked it and said everything was fine, and showed me the printout saying it was fine from the battery and alt test machine. it stopped flickering on my way into the dealer and didn't obv do it for the techs. then on my was home it starting snowing/raining and it friggen started doing it again. WTF. i bought some electrical contact cleaner and sprayed it on both terminals to the battery and ground. anyone ever hear of anything like this? what could be getting wet and causing it? its kind of discouraging.. btw the truck has 60k on it and i was looking thru all the past maint records and it looks like the positive terminal was replaced on nov 30th 2011. I'm thinking maybe a new optima red top????

 

anyone?

 

bump

 

Id start by checking for loose connections at the terminals, the alternator, and even the engine/chassis grounds if you wanna go that far.

Also check the voltage of the battery before and after the motor is running to test the alternator output. If you have a good battery tester it will give you the the CCA output that you can compare with the spec on the battery to determine if its good or not.
Usually the light comes on due to low or high voltage and charging issues.

 

alright say they aren't loose but the water is obv effecting them. what do i do at that point? white lithium grease?

 

I'm thinking maybe a bad alternator belt or voltage regulator. does that make sense to anyone? do my symptoms sound right?

 

Take both leads off the battery. Clean both of the post with sandpaper and the leads going to the battery. Do the basics before you begin digging deeper.

 

X2

 

We're getting all kinds of snow and rain and shit tonight. If its gonna do that every time it rains that sucks. It mostly does it when I accelerate too, or rev up in park. Is it getting over charged you think?

 

if it does it when you rev up, the alternator is malfunctioning. Put a multimeter on it, and see what its charging at. I dont trust any of the machines other then the good old multimeter.

 

If you can disconnect the battery while the truck is running, and it stays running, battery problem. If it cuts off, alternator problem. Like I said though, start simple. Clean the terminals and reconnect the leads tightly. Do that and keep us posted. Sub'd.

 

you cant do that with the newer technology, please dont. You will definately smoke your alternator.

 

Yea idk it only does it sometimes and seems to be when it's wet. I had the truck for 3 days and it didn't do it until I got a car wash. It does it when I go over bumps or sometimes when I rev up. It only flickers and is not ever steady or blinking.

I took it in tonight and they told me everything checked out fine. That pisses me off because now I have to wait until Tuesday to go back because of work all weekend. I'll try cleaning it all up in the am but idk wtf is wrong with it

 

they will flicker if the connections loose, or your belt could be loose slipping on your alternator pulley. Take it back asap, could be a hidden problem

Leave it, and get a loaner

 

^ yea dude they always just tell me nothing is wrong and I can't blame them because it's never friggen doing it by the time I get there. I made an appt for Tuesday I'll see if they can switch out batteries and see if it makes a difference

 

Sounds like bad alternator regulator.

 

^ where is that located?

 

I thought if you disconnected the battery terminals while the truck is running it would destroy the computer with the newer systems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!