For the past like...week my battery light has flickered on here and there, usually turning off after revving the engine slightly above normal. Tonight, I was driving and it started flickering badly (obviosly, the lights would turn normal, and dim as the battery light came on) and the lights would flash with it fr a short while. Then the lights became very bright, and the left one went out. I then (pulling into a parking lot) lost the other one after a speed bump I wasn't paying attention to (I was focused on the gauge cluster). The alternator appears aged, but I don't know exactly how old it is. The car has 231K and I KNOW It hasn't been changed since at least 183. So are we guessing alternator?

 

boredom-bump

 

yeah, sounds like a bad alternator. pretty sure actually. buy a new one. autozone has lifetime warranties.

 

remove the positive terminal from the battery while the car is running and see if it dies out. if it dies out, its definitely the alternator, with electrical stuff it could always be a weak connection somewhere.

 

that happened with my car, but it wasnt the alternators fault. my battery was in my trunk and the whole enclosed case flew to the other side of my trunk. the connectors flew off and my battery wasnt connected anymore. well, it didnt fly all the way to the other side of the trunk. the positive came out.

 

Well, the battery's still located in the front with (what I believe to be) all the same electrical hookups/wirings. I'm probably gonna replace a few wires anyways though. My ground (from pos to starter) is corroded like no other if you move the wires a little bit.

Wires to change: Add if you think it neccesary

Ground to Chassis
Pos to Starter
Pos to the other thing
Ground from head to chassis

 

final suggestion bump

 

When my alternator went out the battery light was doing almost the same thing (turning on, then off) but my lights never died. Curious what the problem is, subscribing...so reply what fixes it

 

When I had this problem I actually disconnected the alternator and found that the car idled fine and no more battery light. (I'm obd1 though). So $20 for an eBay alt and the problem is fixed. Now I'm going to rebuild my alt and put it back in when the eBay part dies

 

the power wire for the alt. could be bad also, mine went out a good bit ago, check for secure connections

 

tested battery, battery good
tested battery connectors, secure and holding
tested wires to terminals, carrying current steadily

car was idling, pulled off pos wire, and the car died immediately (this is with the battery light on)
process was done a second time with the same results
car was idling, pulled off NEG wire, and the car died immediately (again, with the battery light on)

I'm still shooting for the alternator being dead, however my dad suggested that because the battery light would go off by lightly tapping the accel with the result of the battery light going off that it's quite possibly a wire. And that when I tap the accel, the potentially loose wire is making connection for the current to flow.

Guesses on this?

 

no, the "charge warning light" may still go back off if the alternator is dead.

its very clear your alternator needs replacing. the brushes are old. the more you rev it, the more current you build up. but at idle, its not producing enough current, it needs replacement.

no questions. replace.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no, the "charge warning light" may still go back off if the alternator is dead.

its very clear your alternator needs replacing. the brushes are old. the more you rev it, the more current you build up. but at idle, its not producing enough current, it needs replacement.

no questions. replace.</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

To be replaced mid-next week at latest. I will let you know of my findings, although I think our guesses on the bad alt is accurate.

Pend for results.

 

btw, you might be able to get away with banging the alternator a few times and it will jog the brushes a little so youll get a normal charge. maybe.

i had to do this for a week to get to and from work until i had time over the weekend to swap it out.

 

Strip the alternator and check it.
Remove brushes (impact driver helps) and u will see if they are the problem (no carbon left on them, new ones protrude about 19mm).
If they are ok check the diodes with a multimeter, if they all give the same result (forward voltage in one direction only if using diode setting or really high resistance in one direction and no current flow in the other) dont change them.
Check the coils for burnouts, if there is a burnt out coil, THEN get a new alternator.
If not just get the required parts. Its not likely to be the regulator. The parts are cheap and the job is real easy.
I got a re-conditioned one and it died after 18 months so i re-built it and was suprised how easy it was.

 

None of ya'll have one layin' aroudn do ya?

 

I have my old one and the part I need to fixit if u would want it I never got around to fixing it and don't know how Yours if u want to pay shipping to reno, nv

 

Alt replaced with AZ Reman (LLT warranty, and test-receipt. Tested 68 amps (alt rated at 60) at 5700rpms). Pain in the *** to pull out/put in. But it's in (squeaky belt) and I've had no power faults since. I thought it was trippin' my CD player of which kept turning on an off for the first 30 minutes...to realize later it was my fat *** sittin' on the remot :D Thanks for the confirmation ya'll. It'll now get me to the NHRA races tomorrow.

BTW-Installed H1 JDM-Yellow Luminics bulbs. They're reputed to be good, and have lifetime warranty. We'll see how they hold up, but so far I'm impressed with their output.

 

ok this is all u do


grab a multimeter...or volt meter there cheap..turn ur car on, put the red lead on the pos cable and the black lead to neg cable...the voltage with the car RUNNING should be 13.6 or up, if not then ur altenrator is gone

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JokerTypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alt replaced with AZ Reman </TD></TR></TABLE>

you know, i gotta be honest, i regret recommending autozone remanned alternator to you. ive not had a lot of luck with autozone alternators. seemed like a good deal, but the reason i know a lot of alternators and swapping them is because my autozone alternators keep dying on me.

so at this point, consider it just a warning. if something goes wrong with your electrical system again, dont count out the fact your "new" alternator could still be the problem.

majestic is selling honda factory remanned alternators for $180. at this point, i consider that a good deal.

 

::finger::

Ghee...thanks. LoL. Even without your recc I probably would have gone to AZ. Hopefully you've had a string of bad luck that I somehow won't.

 

I was windering the same thing, since last my Battery light has stayed on and i am getting a Code 6, any suggestions?

 

I had same problem but it was my battery not my alternator.

 

Do a simple test, hook up a volt meter to the battery, if the volts shoot up to 14 when the car is started, its not the alternator.

I have posted a few more test in this forum if you wanted to do more test to find out which one it is.