Well I recently noticed my headlights dimming when tapping the brakes. Actually its more of a flicker then back to normal. Then tonight I noticed at higher RPM my headlights would get really dim around 7K RPM all the way to redline. I only noticed it at WOT. Is this a sign of a bad alternator? I never have any starting problems and my battery is fairly new.

 

Get the volt meter out and see what the alt's output is.

Sounds like it's going bad.

 

rodney musta done it with the hamma

 

brake booster going bad?

faulty ground somewhere?

alternator going bad ?





Modified by KayOs at 12:28 AM 5/12/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KayOs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">brake booster going bad?</TD></TR></TABLE>

?

 

My guess is the alternator is taking a **** on you. Check the ground.

 

this is sort of similar to a common problem with 96-00 Civics when they have a b-series swap...i'm not sure if they are related or not.

the lights will dim and get brighter with changes in engine speed.

the quick and dirty solution (possibly the only one) is to de-pin the ALT-C wire from the ecu. from what i've heard, the ALT-C is just for purposes of fuel economy and basically controls when the alternator is actually going to be charging...hence the change in voltage that you can visibly see. by de-pinning it, the alternator will always be charging.

you can try de-pinning it...couldnt hurt. i had this problem with my civic and its been fine ever since i de-pinned the wire...no noticeable impact on fuel economy either.

 

Ryan, do you have HID's or halogens?

 

yea just get some HID's, it will fix the problem.. Most ballasts only need 8or9volts to remain operating.....And besides, oem halogens suckkkkk.

 

My dash lights are currently doing the same thing. I only noticed it when i changed from my chipped ECU to my stock P72 so I am thinking that my battery or alternator is going south or its related to the ECU. Im not sure yet though.

 

Holy crap guys... you missed the obvious one! He is going so fast at WOT that he's beating the light from his headlights down the road!

m4d 3rd g34r vt4k

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by splitime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Holy crap guys... you missed the obvious one! He is going so fast at WOT that he's beating the light from his headlights down the road!

m4d 3rd g34r vt4k </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sweet, physics to the rescue! (Edit: Maybe he's just catching up to the electrons travelling in his headlight wires)

Sounds like he has a slightly weak battery to me. The high RPM signal thing (ALT-C) as well as the lights dimming slightly when the additional load of the brake lights hits for a moment.

RTW--

If I were you, I would totally ignore both issues. I have pretty much always seen the headlights dim just a little when touching the brakes, that's normal IMO.


A super-titanium-magnesium purple-top $150 uber battery would probably fix it.



-Chris

 

LOL@ catching up to the electrons

I dont think switching to HIDs is gonna fix the problem Evan lol

what is the voltage supposed to be at idle, around 13-14? how much fluctuation is there when in higher RPM or should the alternator keep it pretty constant? Im gonna check it just to be safe.

 

Anything less then 13 in NG.
But if you got 13+ then it's your battery.