Castillo847

Ive gone threw 3 alternator in the past 2 weeks. i cant find the problem. my brother and friends tell me that the hids are draining all my power because it only happens at night. could the hids be draining all the power at night because during the day if runs fine. or could it be something else?

Linked

were these brand new or used alternators?

also check all of your wiring to make sure no exposed wires are out

plug in your stock bulbs and turn on the hi+low beams to see if it does it then

and what brand is the hid n ballast

Castillo847

one was used the other one i got brand new from autozone
all the wires are fine and not exposed
i plan on running the car on stock bulbs for tonight and check if the car runs fine
i dont remember the brand but its a good name brand one.
could it be something else be sides the hids?

Linked

to eliminate the hids being a potential problem, just unplug them and turn your headlights on from in the car

if it still dies out its not your hids, and may be any other light associated being powered when the headlight switch is on

Castillo847

yes but the thing is it takes a while of driving for the car to act up so i will have to take the hids out and run with regular bulbs. and see what happens then.

Linked

when you do, be sure to post back what the problem is, i'm almost finished with a semester of auto electronics and we just finished up charging systems,

how long would it usually take after you'd turn on the hids for the car to die?

Castillo847

it usually take like 20-30 minutes so pretty much how everlong it takes to drain the battery

Castillo847

so i changed my battery and the car seems to be running fine now. apperently the alternator drained my battery to many times and the battery was **** now. the alternator was trying to charge the battery and the car at the same time thats why the car kept turning off. so now it runs fine so far.

Castillo847

its doing it again... now what?

Linked

did you ever swap out the hid's for stock bulbs and try like we agreed on?

Castillo847

i couldnt find the bulbs but i just got some so thats tomorrows test at night. because i ran the car all day with the hids on and not until a couple of hours ago did the car start acting up. which i find weird that they only mess up at night. could it be a tempeture problem? im going to ask my teacher tomorrow and my friend is going to ask one of the techs he works with. but hopefully tomorrow we find a solution.

EJeff8

I am saying you have a grounded out short somewhere.

Castillo847

somewhere on the alternator wires?

EJeff8

Has to be something that goes on at night apparently.

You have a circuit that is just continually dumping power into metal, constantly overworking your alternator and eventually killing it and your battery.

Electrical shorts are the hardest thing to find. Sometimes it's right in your face, sometimes not.

Castillo847

the thing is that today i ran my car in the morning the same way i ran it at night all the lights on and everything on man. that why i said its weird that it only happens at night. but i get what your saying. usually how long do you think the car can run only on the battery? cause i ran it all day and night the exact same way like i said. this is the frustrating part of working on car.

Jimster480

you seem to have a short somewhere. It doesn't make sense about night time, unless its super cold where you are and your HID's are draining the battery directly. have you checked voltage to the battery when the car is off, then when the car is on, and then when the HID's and other lights are on? It should read about 12 Volts when its off and closer to 14 Volts when the car is on. And turning on the lights shouldn't make it really go down (maybe by .1 volts).

EJeff8

Hm, a possibility could be that during the day your battery is getting drained constantly while your alternator is constantly charging it, then by the nighttime, when you throw all your lights on, your alternator can't handle that much of a workload and dumps it.

jspecb18vtec

is it a eg or ek?

Former User

^This. Otherwise, I need to move this thread to the Lighting subforum.

If you hope to get useful replies, then provide all relevant information about your car and engine:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showpo...48&postcount=2

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Castillo847

i got a 1992 honda civic hatchback with the jdm 1.5 vtec. it has aftermarket headlight and hids now and since i put the hids on my car has been acting up. i drive fine in the morning but at night the car starts to lose power and misfire everntually turns off.
is it the hids or is something else draining my battery because i ran the car in the morning with the hids on and everything but for some reason it only happens at night?

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

What happens when you run with Stock bulbs at night?

Castillo847

same thing.

drgtr

Check your trunk light is not staying on?

Castillo847

no its not.

ek4_b16a

try unplugging your HID system and go from there. maybe you have a relay issue w your HIDs