the 01 civic features an alternator with an internal voltage regulator. the wiring diagram in the helms manual shows one wire to the battery, one to the ignition switch, and three to the ecu. will the alternator serve its function of keeping the battery charged without the latter three connections, assuming the rest of the car's systems are controlled by megasquirt?

my friend is of the mind that the alternator ecu controls are used to anticipate engine loads based on electrical load so that idle may be made leaner.

 

THe only wire you need for obd1 is the blacl/yellow wire to charge the battery.

No idea for an 01.

 

the alternator control is used in combination with the ELD to adjust the alternators output depending on electrical load. This allows the alternator to run with less load when not needed thus freeing up power.

 

That's great, does it work without ECU control? Is the voltage regulator capable of doing it's job without monitoring load?

This article has a very good description of how the microprocessor voltage regulators work in general. Doesn't really help for this situation since I don't know which functions the internal voltage regular handles and which ones the ECU takes. At least now I know what the flux capacitor is in the circuit diagram of the charging system. It does imply that it may work, just not as smoothly. I guess I'll just try it, and then...

 

Here is a short paper describing how Honda alternator control works. The student says that the alternator will keep the battery charged as long as IG and B are connected. Other options are for idle smoothing and decreasing alternator load at low engine power.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...gn6epGpiXOaW7A

 

^^ Nice Find! Lots of good info