SK2003TypeS

Driving around earlier today and the engine started to run rough. Once I get it to about 20 mph, it seems to go away. The engine light was blinking then went away. Parked the car for a few hours. Went back out to take a look and now the engine light, VSA and triangle (!) light is on. Any ideas ?
There was a bunch of build up on the negative terminal.

Also, one of the headlights is now out. This happened about a week ago. It comes on for a little while, then flickers and goes out.

Any help on the issues and cost would be appreciated.

01tl4tl

start by cleaning the battery cable connection
put hot water and baking soda in a cup, dip end of cable into the mix
rinse in clean cup of water

baking soda/water can be used to wash away the crud on top of batt cables before you start
that is caustic acid,,be careful!!

It means your battery is outgassing,,my guess is: its low on fluid and low on charge,
plus the added resistance of the cable crud

clean as directed, remove fill caps if able- to look at level
if you can see any plates exposed- no water covering,,that battery is toast
If its 3-4 years old you got a good life from it

Parts stores can test the battary and entire system--free!!!

Headlight: do you get a pink/purple tint to light when first turned on?- if pointed at a wall
Thats age death and no sweat to fix = new bulbs

If you have moisture inside the lens of the headlight, you suffer the same thing as most of us
the water drips out onto the HID ballast and capacitor/ignitor box
eventually frying them inside
aftermarket is your friend on this one
Please see the numerous current light threads for more help
03 runs a different bulb than other years

01tl4tl

Yes, a messed up battery will trigger all sorts of warning lights and false codes
the system depends on a specific voltage and amp to operate properly

SK2003TypeS

01tl4tl, Thanks for the feedback !

For what it's worth, I had the OEM battery in there for about 7-8 years before it died. I don't know how it lasted that long. I now have an optima redtop (maybe 3 years old ?) in there and I know I don't do enough hwy mileage. Maybe should have got something different. I only have 57K miles on the car.
I guess the rough idle is from the injectors not getting enough juice to fire correctly ?

For the headlight, it first turned on / looked normal and then changed to pink/purple for a little while, then turns off. Now it turns on for a little while, then flickers and turns off without the pink/purple phase. I'll have to watch it carefully. Guess I'll give new bulbs a shot.

I don't see any moisture in the lens. Poking around the site, I see a number of your HID posts, so I will look into that as well in case I need them down the road. Sounds like a relatively cheap fix.

Thanks,
Scott

01tl4tl

pink is age, flikker is often ballast

for the price of oe bulbs @125$!!! each,,or the very good (ran them 4 years)
Kaixen brand at ~100 a pair
I would get the hidextra.com `kit` now and install,,

you will have ballast probs eventually, and I dislike repeating labor

my understanding is the 03 uses a different base designation on the bulb than my 01
recent word says hidextra no longer sells the right one for an 03
but many sellers online for decent price

in that case buy 2 ballast and 2 ignitors,,get bulbs somewhere else

01tl4tl

a bunch of things are not getting correct voltage and causing your poor running
from injectors to coils not firing the plugs hard enough
Deal with the battery cables first

very strange to have optima problems,,is redtop the deep cycle/marine battery??
You need to keep those on a `battery maintainer` when sitting for long periods

Do get the system tested at parts store: `over-voltage` can cause the crud buildup too- thats a faulty voltage regulator

10-12 years ago oe batts were decent,,in the ensuing years- most companies are making lower quality units,,lucky to get 3-4 years in modern cars with their high demands