daveruni

My friend has a 94 Accord and when driving the other day his radio cut out and his guages started going crazy. We pulled over and when we went to start it it was dead. We jumped it and managed to get it home as the guages started going crazy again. I changed the battery cables and we bought a new battery and alternator for the car. Autozone tested the old alternator and said it was bad. After installing the new one it has the exact same problem. The car ran for a day until the battery drained and then died. We brought the new alternator to autozone and had it tested and it passed but for some reason the alternator is not charging the battery. I did a continuity tested between the ground on the battery and the alternator itself because I heard it could be a bad ground and I also did one from the positive battery terminal to the alternator power plug and they both checked out. When the car is running the battery is reading 12.4 volts. Does anybody have any other possibilities that they can think of as to why the alternator isn't charging the battery?

casper.hughes

im haven the same problem man idk what it is if you find out let me know plz

CD_Ridge

I had a similar problem with my old 90 Accord. On mine, the alternator failed, then gauges went crazy after driving on battery power only, when the battery did not have enough power for the electronics. I replaced my battery and received a new alternator (warranty replacement).

12.4 volts is low for a running vehicle, it should be ~14.5 Volts. If the alternator is good, then I would look at your battery, check water/acid levels, or have a parts store check the battery for you. Charge the battery overnight. If the battery still shows low voltage, you might have a dead (or shorted) cell ( a parts stor battery test will tell you this problem). The battery will need to be replaced.
CD

casper.hughes

could a bad battery cause all that

daveruni

It happened on the old battery as well. When we bought the new alternator we installed it at the same time as a new battery. Also when the car died I was able to charge the battery with no problem on a battery charge at my house so shouldn't that mean the battery is good?

Hawkze_2.3

See what happens if you ground the casing of the alternator to the frame or negative battery terminal. Some alternators are self grounded and some have to ground through the engine block to the frame....

daveruni

Checked that too. Ran a voltmeter between the casing to the ground terminal and it was working and connected while grounded through the block. I'm stumped.

gassedhonda

its one of your grouns.i just recently had the same problem with a 94 honda accord lx,and the kid spent so much money on the problem that he gave up and sold it to me.i replaced the battery twice,alternator 3 times and finally got smart.took it to the older brother and he insisted it was a ground.replaced both upper and lower ground wires andhave not had a problem since

daveruni

Checked that too. Ran a voltmeter between the casing to the ground terminal and it was working and connected while grounded through the block. I'm stumped.

C-Dro

Oh wow, thanks for the info. I just had all these problems on my 97 accord lx and it just got a new battery. It didn't fix the issue and now I am moving onto the alternator I will make sure to check all these if the new alternator doesn't fix the problem either.

MarkerCD7

Hello, I am curious if anyone has figured out the cause of this happening and how to fix it and stop it from happening in the future. Im having the same problems described as the first guy on the thread explaing what was happening, and would like to know how to fix this please and Thank you!

P2K

You should start with a new thread. Also, what have you replaced already and if you know how to use a volt meter correctly.

Davesmit

It' the voltage regulator, perhaps. If that thing is messed up your battery ain't gonna get charged correctly or overcharge the battery and eventually ruin it. In other words, may be a good idea to test the vehicle's voltage regulator.

Also, please go around under the hood of the car and find all the framed/engine grounded cables/wires to make sure they are making good contact; cause that may throw of the voltage regulator, for instance, or caused a myriad of other electrical problems/inaccuracies.

danbwell1

So can anyone that has either fixed this issue or have a guaranteed process of elimination so I don’t have to spend 500$ guessing on how to or ground this to that or do I need a flux capacitor?