JasonST

So yesterday I was driving home, my car barely started and I knew something was wrong, but was going to wait till I got home to figure it out. Well it was night time and so I turned my lights on, and within seconds they got very dim, my abs light came on, but my battery light never came on, eventually I knew my car was ganna die, and it did, I got it towed back to my house, and now I'm trying to figure out what's wrong. Now, the battery light doesn't come on when I turn the ignition to on. Alternator won't charge battery. Checked all the fuses and grounds, any help would be great!

kuja

battery light? Do you mean it came ON? I know that means a charging system problem when its on. Check the battery voltage with the car off, then on and see if the alternator is working.

JasonST

I mean the battery light doesn't come on when the ignition is turned on, not when the car is on, it's suppose to come on, then go off when u turn the car on, thats how u know its working, well now the battery light doesn't come on b4 I start my car, and the alternator isn't charging the battery, it's only at 12.5V when the car's on, it's odd that the alternator isn't charging the battery, and yet the battery light on the dash isn't on.

Hondaholik

check ur alternator. does the car start?

JasonST

yeah... Just said the car starts, just doesn't charge the battery to 14.5 volts. Alternator is fine just got it checked a couple weeks ago.

JasonST

Problem Fixed. The 4 wires that lead to the alternator were half way out of the connector but I couldn't see it because of the big rubber seal around it. Now the only problem is they don't clip in, so I'm not sure how to keep them from falling out.Thx for the help though.

why2nite2

iam having the same exact problem with my 2003 honda accord.... i bought 2 new alternators and battery... i checked all the fuses and they are all good..i noticed the charging indicator (battery light)light was not coming on and after looking into it.. it seems that could be the source of the problem.. when u say the four cables.... you mean the one cable that conects to the alternator with the 10mm bolt....

B20ztek

iTrader: (1)

Get a new clip, from a junkyard or something, cut and splice. Use solder and heatshrink or course

why2nite2

well i checked the connectors once again and they are fine. iam still having problem. any suggestions anyone. i checked all connectors,alternator.battery,fuses and still something is causing battery light not to come on during self test period and according to some research ive done, that light is part of charging process.......thanks

el crapitan

on some vehicles that i've dealt with, the batt light does play an important role in the charging process, since it completes the circuit to the pcm. if the bulb is blown, it's open circuit. that's all i remember.
check the bulb

why2nite2

ive tried, I took the cluster off but i don't see a bulb itsmore like an led in the circuit board. iam still trying to figure it out. i mY have to take it to a shop since i have gone though all connector s and i see nothing. i hope it isnt the pcu but i dont think so because why woulthe battery light be the only light th come on

slammedinteg

would there be a difference between a automatic dash harness and a manual dash harness? jw

WideBodyTypeR

This is kind of old, but basically the bulb is very important. And yes it does make an open circuit if blown. This is not really a permanent fix, but if you want to test and make sure, you can look up wiring diagrams for the alternator 4 pin connector and you will see that One goes from alternator to the gauge cluster, through battery light bulb, then from light bulb in the gauge cluster back to the alternator. Bassically, to narrow it down, you can jumper the 2 wires together at the alternator connector (illiminating the light bulb and circuit).The battery light will still not come on obviously since you bypassed it, but if it starts charging (you can verify using voltmeter) then you know the problem is the bulb, the gauge cluster if bulb is not removable, or that circuit has open or short. Hope this helps sOmeone in the future. Also, one more tip, if you go to a part store, MOST distributes come with a paper in the box that shows the connector and actually tells you some tests you can perform before you replace the alternator, since there are multiple things on these cars that can cause the no charge condition. Well, good luck!

slammedinteg

i'm running into the same problem. but my alternator is good everything is good but im getting no charge and my battery light isnt coming on... im running out of ideas other then just replacing my whole harness

zoid_99

Not trying to thread hijack but I'm running into the same problem but I believe I may have caused it somehow. I replaced the starter on my 2003 Accord 2.4 and on first crank everything was good except the battery light was on. I entered the security code, turned the car off, started the car again and no battery light. So I thought everything was cool. Drive it around for a little bit and the car stalls out with a dead battery. It's a new battery so I'm pretty sure the alternator isn't charging the battery but the battery light isn't coming on however id did that one time. If it doesn't rain again today I'm going to break out the multimeter. I've checked ove all of the connections and I don't see anything obvious.

honda-dummy1

How does the back side of the ignition switch look. Have seen many where they are burnt causing no charge issues.

Look at the wiring diagram: Do you have main battery power at the large cable? Do you have 12 volts from ignition side to excite the alternator(which usually goes through the bulb)? What is field voltage?

zoid_99

Hopefully this afternoon I can put the meter on it but this morning I did a quick check and noticed that the battery light does not come on at all even when the I turn ignition on without starting the car. I'm pretty sure it used to come on. Maybe this is a clue... Hmmm...

danomatic7

Check that your wiring harness connector is making good contact with your alternator. With the key on, one of your wires should give you battery voltage. Jumper a wire from your connector to your alternator. if this turns your battery light on then you have found the/an issue. You can replace the connector. Or carefully bend the post on the alternator so that you get good connection when it is plugged in.

Axix24

i got the the same issue on my eg8. I tried changing the battery indicator bulb, but it still doesn't come on at times when the ignition key is turned. alternator tested fine and no loose connections from the alternator. Any ideas?

Axix24

Never mind, looks like the top ground wire to the alternator was loose as hell.

gromkop

2001Honda Civic. Battery goes dead. Charge. week later dead again. Used Battery, dead in five days. New Battery. Check voltage while running 12.4. Under load 12.2 NOT Charging NO Batt./Alt. light! Just turn key on, NO light. Check fuse ok. Pull fuse turn on ign. key There's the light! What the heck? Voltage at Alt. Term. 12V. Continuity to pos term at Batt. from Alt.Term. ok. Across ELD in fuse box continuity ok. Pins in 4 term alt harness read 12v. 4.7v, 4.3v, 5v. Why no alt warning light? Took old alt. to Auto zone tested bad.Test it again please bad. Go to another autozone to get rebuilt alt. Please test old alt. still bad test new alt. Good. Installed new Alternator, guess what? Batt. warning light comes on with ignition, goes out when running. 14.5 vdc at pos term. Problem solved. But no thanks to Honda. Idiot dash light did not warn of failing, failed alternator. 3 days 3 roadside jumps, 3 batteries and it was a bad alternator YET my Warning light was off and off in the start position too. SO, if your warning light does not come on when you switch the key, and the battery keeps dying and your gauges go haywire, might just be a bad alternatior as was my case. Wanted to share with you all. Thanks for the tips and tests.

gromkop

ALSO to add to above my battery was 7 1/2 years old and was weak and if you left the lights on for a few min. you had to jump it. Could have lead to the demise of the alternator that was stressing to keep it charged, Old alternator had 178k and 13 years old. FYI. to the above

Darksoul251

I just delt with this problem.I changed alternator and then checked all the fuses. Still did the same thing so I even changed the speed odometer cluster sill no good. Then I thought about I changed the starter week and a half before. So I checked was I getting any fire to the alternator connector that plugs into the top of the alternator. Had the car running and used a test light no fire to the connector. So I checked the grey connectors right under the manifold just to the right. They looked like it was connected good, but was not making contact on the inside took it loose and made sure it was connected good. Battery light came on in the dash and alternator went to charging. So might just be that simple but something you don't really think of because it looks like it is connected good.

Melvin Pervis

Melvin Pervis

I just solved this problem on a friends kids 2008 Civic... Turned out the two little bolts that connect the power to the front of the fuse box under the hood were loose! The ones at the main fuse... 8mm with philips head on them also.