yea so this has happend twice now, it acts like the alternator is dying but it actually isn't. The cars lights slowly dim, radio, clock everything shuts down, then it dies like its a alternator problem... At first i had a bad battery... In a honda if you have a weak cell battery the computer with overload the alternator and it will cause this. Then i changed out the battery and everything was fine, power was cycling just great 12-13 volts. Then today when i went over to get admission test done it started dieing agian.. i pulled away away as quick as possible but the car had nothing it died. Now this completely drains the battery... after a 15min wait the battery i guess (recylced) the car started and i drove home with no lights or anything on(it was raining) i pull in the garage and it died, i have no ******* clue what is causing this, does anyone have any suggestions, thoughts, comments, answers... i would greatly appreciate some help here guys i am fed up with this project car.


Some info on the car. 92 hatch DX, 2001 GSR motor, GSR dash(wiring maybe), running off a chipped p28(skunk2 program)

Once agian this happend twice now, and it seems to come out of nowhere... the car will drive fine for weeks/months

FACTS- ALternator is good and so is the battery...


Modified by HybridHatchC1 at 12:32 AM 12/11/2004

 

you had the altenator tested right?

 

sounds like alternator to me, double check it.

 

Thanks for the attempt guys but did you actually read? i know for a fact its definitly not the alternator

 

I read, and judging by the 12-13 volt reading, it still seems like the alternator to me. I think you should be around 14 volts. The battery supplies 12v (hence a 12v battery). If your running between 12-13v, the alternator is not giving you anything.
If the alt is good, you'll should be around 14+ volts.

This happened to me. Check the connection on top of the alternator. It's under the little rubber cap. Make sure the 10mm nut is tight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PLANBmotorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I read, and judging by the 12-13 volt reading, it still seems like the alternator to me. I think you should be around 14 volts.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, you battery should be reading 14.4v's at idle and at least 12.8v with the car off.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PLANBmotorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I read, and judging by the 12-13 volt reading, it still seems like the alternator to me. I think you should be around 14 volts. The battery supplies 12v (hence a 12v battery). If your running between 12-13v, the alternator is not giving you anything.
If the alt is good, you'll should be around 14+ volts.

This happened to me. Check the connection on top of the alternator. It's under the little rubber cap. Make sure the 10mm nut is tight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

hmm..... not sure if that is right either though. Sure your not thinking "generator". I almost thought for sure that all alternators charged back at under 14Volts for sure, because they are AC while a generator could put back more because its DC.

ask yourself this question, knowing that you JUST put in a new battery. If the battery died again, where did the power go? It went to the ignition and everything else, and the alternator didn't put it back. Alternators can die spartically, had one test fine after it killed a battery then it killed my new battery again the next day. same situation as you.

i'll put dead presidents on it being the alternator, or an alternator based connection, replace it then come back.

EDIT: I was wrong about the volts going back though, my bad, it should read at 14 about.


Modified by snoochtodanooch at 8:02 PM 12/10/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snoochtodanooch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...because they are AC while a generator could put back more because its DC.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol, you got that switched. DC is in cars, AC is in your house. Unless of course your house is your car, then you have DC in both.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Unsivil_audio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

lol, you got that switched. DC is in cars, AC is in your house. Unless of course your house is your car, then you have DC in both. </TD></TR></TABLE>

nah, i am gonna correct you and say alternators are AC, and i know i am right on this.

 

alternator= alternating current= AC

 

got this from a website, might want to check out the rest of it http://www.misterfixit.com/alterntr.htm

So, how can you tell if the alternator is failing without taking it apart and doing some measuring inside the alternator? It's really pretty simple. You will need a simple voltmeter. You can get one at Radio Shack for under ten dollars. Here's what you do - start the car, make sure all the accessories are off and rev up the motor to a fast idle. Set the Voltmeter to the DC scale (not AC or Ohms). Measure the voltage across the battery terminals - red lead of the voltmeter on the positive terminal, black on the negative (ground in most cars). The voltage should, and probably will, read around 14 volts. If it reads less than 12 volts you may indeed have a failed alternator and you can skip the next step. Next, turn on the heater, the rear window de-fogger, the radio, the headlights and anything else that draws power. Now rev up the motor and watch the voltmeter. It should still be reading around 14 volts. If it reads lower than 13 volts the chances are that your alternator is not up to snuff.

 

start the car pull the + bat plug off and let it idle. if it dies then alternator. if not then no prob. i think theres a short.

 

Wow I did not know that. But technically you didnt correct ****. I said cars run on DC. Houses run on AC, which is 100% correct, either way you look at it. Not to mention the AC never leaves the alternator.

 

ahh whatever, you said the wrong statement for what i was saying was right, so your wrong...lol j/k

 

How are the battery connections? Mine were corroded pretty bad & it caused me to believe that the alt was bad, but I ended up replacing the battery ends & viola!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DJ_SaNdOz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How are the battery connections? Mine were corroded pretty bad & it caused me to believe that the alt was bad, but I ended up replacing the battery ends & viola!</TD></TR></TABLE>


i will replacing them, they are they original terminals from the car so it could be it. For the people who were telling me that it should read 14v+ , it does when the car is running. like i said the alternator or battery is not the problem their both new and checked... i was saying the battery stayed a good 12-13v(no dead cells)... for the guy that said it maybe a short i also maybe think it is too, i am just hoping its not because all my wires are clean and i dont feel like redoin them.

 

i had the same problem a while back when i did a swap. it turn out that the plug( negative, i think, the one that runs back to the battery) on the alternator was not tight enough, so it would not charge the battery. hope that help in your case

 

Bump for some help

 

dude how you gonna bump for help when everyone told you what they thought, you have to guess and check and chase wiring now.

 

Do you have a MIL? If you do, check the codes. My g/f's civic died the same death a couple of days ago, and both the alt. and batt. were fine. A short in some as-yet-unfound wiring harness is causing the #15 (Alternator,VSS) fuse to blow, thus killing the charging circuit. We had codes 20 (ELD), 41 (Pri Oxy Sensor Heater), and 65 (Sec Oxy Sensor Heater) FYI.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snoochtodanooch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude how you gonna bump for help when everyone told you what they thought, you have to guess and check and chase wiring now. </TD></TR></TABLE>


You might as well be an 04 member, anyway does anyone know of any other possible problems, or have any suggestions that havent already been stated.

 

my car was havin dat kinda of problem too.. i thought it was da alternator.. and da battery.. bought a new alternator but. still havin same problem.. but da problem was da alternator fuse under the dash. have u check it??

 

What do you have for aftermarket parts that might put an additional strain on the charging system, if any?