Dimming lights and intermittent engine cutout when stepping on brakes with lights on

Tiny
TVGRANPA63
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 MERCURY SABLE
  • 3.0L
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 145,000 MILES
Car has 6month old alternator and battery is about 18months. I had load test done alternator checked ok and battery did not fail but showed moderate recovery. This same thing happened 6months ago and I put new alternator in and also new belt tensioner and everything was good for 6months. I noticed this time when engine is on and I turn on headlights that clock on radio dims and stays dimmed. With car parked and engine running can not duplicate problem, but as soon as you start driving each time I brake the headlights dim for a second and then after driving a few miles engine cuts out but recovers. I looked for loose wires and battery terminals are clean. It acts like a bad alternator, but test showed ok. Maybe a bad switch? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Saturday, January 4th, 2014 AT 6:25 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Make sure battery terminals are clean and check grounds form batt to body and batt to engine.
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Saturday, January 4th, 2014 AT 7:01 AM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
That's the way it's supposed to work. The LEDs are set brighter so you can see them in sunlight and dimmed for the darkness of night.
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Saturday, January 4th, 2014 AT 8:00 AM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
Looks like we posted at the same time Hmac

As for the idling/stalling problem.

First eliminate all vacuum or air leaks in the system. You may have a bad IAC ( idle air control) but try cleaning the throttle body first. Remove the intake snorkel, have someone hold the throttle wide open for you and scrub the back side of the throttle plate and surrounding bore with an old tooth brush and some carb cleaner. Be sure to spray some into the small holes next to the throttle plate. That should help stabilize the idle. If it still has a problem, replace the IAC
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Saturday, January 4th, 2014 AT 8:02 AM

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