SIMJ

So here is the story. (Car: 97 LX stock d16y7 )
Yesterday I was happily driving home from work, it was supposed to be a nice weekend, when suddenly I noticed the "battery light" on the dash. It only went of when I stopped completely and was pressing the brake pedal, or turned the heater all the way o the max, but will go right back on. I needed to drive from MA to NH and back, due to the light I decided to check what the problem is. I thought battery or alternator. Went to autozone to check the battery voltage. Dude told me to turn it off, I was like are you sure? I need to know if it's the alternator or battery. He said he was positive, and when he used a volt-meter it read 13.84 volts with the car off. He said I just need a new battery and left. I've decided to use prior knowledge and see if the alternator was bad. Turned on the car no problem, disconnected the battery completely turned the lights on radio on and let it run for 10-15 minutes. Worked just fined, meaning alternator was producing enough power. I decided to go to NH drove for 60 miles light was going on and off, got off the highway and it started smelling like rotten eggs for a second I thought it was my clutch but since day one i didnt have that smell so i realized it was related to the battery light. Smell went off after I stopped at my dads house. Drove back at night, noticed that my gauges were too bright as well as my lowbeams. Everytime I stopped the light went of the low beams dimmed. Got of the highway smell came back. I got home googled it and somebody encountered a same problem, saying it is the alternator that overcharges the battery and the smell is caused by the overheated acind in battery cells. This morning I decided to go to my friends garage to change the alternator there because he has good tools, started the car no problem, and then stupidest idea came to my mind, to disconnect the battery so it doesnt overheat smell and **** up. Took the negative clamp off **** started sparking, wipers went off at the speed of light I shut the car off immideately. Put the negative back on car doesnt start> Tried to kickstart it didnt work. My friendly neighboor offered me some tools and said t would be better if we turn the car around so when I jack it up I wont be on the road and will be on a sidewalk instead. Seemed like a good idea, We were pushing it backwats with a door a bit open I was about to pull the ebrake when I hear a very lound sound and it was my door that hit the pole. So now the door is ****ed up. A little dent at the corner still closes and everything, but my hands were down I decided to leave it for today. My window was little open I tried to close it and call it a day, but guess what I didn't go up... Power lock doesnt work because car thinks it's not fully closed... Nothing gets in the way of the window it goes down perfectly doesnt go up. I went back to the alternator problem, however there's no spark whatsoever... Starter works, battery is still strong but theres no spark. So I was just wondering if somebody can relate the battery light, alternator and a window, and tell me what to do, because I don't even know where to begin and what else to check. Sorry for all the grammar mistakes and this text is probably hard to understand, but im psychologically exhausted, because yesterday I had one problem that seemed minor, today the car started and wasn't damaged, and now everything is so ****ed up... And those who will say something like just bring it to the shop, please don't waste your time, it is not the option... Any responses will be appreciated

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Could you do a summary of all that? I'm not reading it.

98civdx

Holy s**t. We need cliffs, or cut it in half.

SIMJ

#Alternator is overcharging the battery.
#Tried to disconnect the battery while the car was running, saw some sparks wipers went on at a crazy speed
#Didn't start after that, driver's window goes down doesnt go up, powerlock doesnt work
#There's no spark
#Checked all the related fuses and battery
#WHAT DO?

SIMJ

But all the crap I wrote is somewhat relevant, if you spend like 2 minutes you would have way better clue about the problem and might be able to give some advice. Would really appreciate it

redm3turbo

is the alternator oem or have you changed it before?

SIMJ

No, I didn't, previous owner always serviced it a Burlington Honda, so even if they did it's still a Honda one

redm3turbo

I dunno if theres a load relay on the 97 lx.....I can't find one according to the civic breakdowns...

That's what Id guess tho.

Id guess #12 tho in the picture above ====voltage regulator

It'd be cheaper to buy a new alternator from advance though. $150 ish from advance



OH---Just FYI, an overcharging alternator can cause a battery to literally explode, so you really want to limit use of your vehicle til you get it sorted.

SIMJ

I thought if relay too, however couldn't locate it anywhere. May be because there isn't one...

SIMJ

But I mean even if alternator is bad, there still should be spark because car starts from the battery right?

SIMJ

no more thoughts?

SIMJ

OH---Just FYI, an overcharging alternator can cause a battery to literally explode, so you really want to limit use of your vehicle til you get it sorted.[/QUOTE]

that's why I tried to take the clamps off the battery so it wont explode on the way to the garage, but now it doesnt starts whatsoever.
no spark

hannslebo

Damn...does sound like a f'd up Sunday. Should have prayed harder at church this morning!! Ha

Its funny when ppl complain about how much you write. Because if you write to little, they complain. Guess you just have to find that happy medium.

Anyways...

Did the CEL light come on? Maybe you fried the ECU...

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

Your never supposed to disconnect your battery cables why car is running. Prob fried your ecu

redm3turbo

Yeah...grab a ecu at a junkyard or whatever and swap it.

Something has to be wrong since you said it wouldnt pop start. A buddy of mine overcharged his system, via hooking up a amp drastically wrong, blew every fuse in the car, and melted various parts of his wiring harness.

Former User

This^

Never ever disconnect the battery cables with the engine running. The battery buffers the electrical system from voltage spikes that can be produced by the alternator.

SIMJ

You know how all of the lights go off even with the car off but the key is in the II position? Well they supposed to go off, I still have the battery light and check engine light. Is it ECU? And how come both ECU and Window motor were fried at the same time, while every single fuse is good, what's a point of fuses then. And how exactly ECU affects the spark?

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

Sounds like an ecu. Check your cel. Who knows what you fried when you disconnected the battery

SIMJ

And if I did fried the ECU, replacing an ECU would remove the symptom, but wont remove the cause. So what's the rough verdict? Alternator was overcharging the battery that fried an ECU when the boiled battery got dissconected? If there was a Doctor House for Honda they would def have an episode like that..; ECU Alternator, door, powerlock... A little more, and instead of replacing all this **** i can just get a swap and make a race car lol. no windows no locks and go to a derby in an import. Japanese Muscle;.. Flip my life.

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

When you disconnected the battery it sees it as not charging the battery so the alternator goes into full cycle while not seeing that its correcting the problem which causes a huge voltage spike

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

IIf your sure the altenator was over charging the battery at first. Start by checking your connections and cleaning them on the battery

SIMJ

Checked the ground wires, checked the connectors on the battery itself, sandpapered them gently. And I don't want to say I'm sure it was overcharging, but the battery looked nice and clean, smelled like pure plastic, now it smells like rotten eggs, looks like a cover is lifted a bit and acid is licking slowly. I mean may be it's not the alternator as a whole, just the voltage regulator but I doubt i will buy one separately, unless luckily I found one at a Junkyard but usually they take out the working alternators themselves and won't let me return it or part it. Can it be wires? Like ignition wires or something, that's where I'm like completely lost... And i might sound too picky and trying to find the cause, but simply because it was 1600 honda that I already put about 100 hours of work in, just keepeng it stock, and when some **** like that happens, I want to be as sure as i can doing things because starts to get a bit too pricey for a stock car

Dc4LsTeG

iTrader: (7)

You need a new battery as well. I don't see any problem that happend that wasnt a result of what you did. I don't understand what the problem was in the first place, you said you thought the alternator was overcharging but you did no test. Then you thought it was ok to disconnect the cables why the car was on

SIMJ

Offtopic but I wish we had a bigger or closer community here in MA as you guys have in cali. Instead guys on their automatic y8 with pink towhooks bring cars to a family mechanic to change brakepads

SIMJ

Who said you cannot disconnect it. U? But people worldwide do, and I just did yesterday and it worked just fine for 20 minutes. Because if alternator doesn't produce enough power the car will soon drain the battery and it will shut off. Instead I shut it off myself, connect the battery again and it turns on just fine and works for another two hours with the battery connected. And how about the original "battery light" I caused it too? By what? Driving a honda? Not trying to be rude, just stressed the **** out