High Voltage

I have a 1999 Buick Riviera 2 dr. After the car is running for 15 min. the seat belt light blinks and the dash board lights go on an off like a pin ball machine. The yellow traction light goes on and stays on. I brought the car to two shops. One said it need a new ignition- paid $500 and still the lights go on. Then the other shop said I need a new alternator paid $600 and still the lights go on. When starting the car from a stop position the car is very sluggish.

There may be a power connection problem to the dashboard lights causing this. I assume you are talking about the the warning lights and not the dash illumination lights for this trouble. If the warning lights are indicating the trouble have the battery voltage checked for any AC voltage getting to it from the alternator. Some warning lights may be tied to the alternator field circuit and there may be trouble there.

It sounds like you have been taken for a ride on some misdiagnosed trouble I am sorry to say. Though a bad alternator could cause this trouble it would be easy to verify it as the source of trouble. You may want to find a shop that specializes in electrical trouble but you have already paid a lot of money out for a problem that should have been fixed the first go around.

It’s not the warning lights- it’s the red air bag light that goes on and off and the yellow or orange traction control lights up and stays lit. The other lights are the two defroster lights and the other lights near it- these go on and off like a blinking xmas tree. The part of the dash that shows the outside temp gets scambled and looks like Chinese. Shop said it was due to high voltage- that’s why they replaced the alternator- but the problem didn’t go away.