This is very odd. First off I its a 96 Hatch with the battery in the back. Here is the problem. About a week ago, i noticed the power windows etc were getting slow. The radio kept shutting off if it was up to high and it was at about 1/2. I didnt think anything of it. Next, at night, my guages would bounce in sequence when Id hit the turn signal or emergency lights. Finally, the car wouldnt start and I thought it was the battery. Got a new battery and bam, worked awsome for 2 days. Not just hours, 2 days. Now, the same problem happen and the car wont start. I dont understand WTF is going on. The alternator seems to be charging the battery, but not enough??? Im confused.

Eddie

:Searched:

 

have your alternator checked out at autozone or advance auto parts.....I'm pretty sure they do it for free....definately sounds like an alternator problem

 

Question, why is your battery in the rear?

Second, what size of wire did you use for the power?

Third, what size wire for ground, and how far away is it from the battery?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Deemeetree &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Question, why is your battery in the rear?

Second, what size of wire did you use for the power?

Third, what size wire for ground, and how far away is it from the battery?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was going to mention ground, but I assumed he didn't have a voltmeter, cheap and easy to have the alternator checked out to see if it is working properly, if it is, then he needs to look at the grounding........but from what I read it looks like it was working fine before.........so something was either changed, or something broke.

 

I think its the alternator or the wiring because the the battery wont convert...thats why u see everything getting weak...good luck

 

well, one thing was never mentioned
voltage regulator. im not sure on a honda if its internally regulated on the alternator, in the ecu, or a separate piece all together. but if it runs great with a new battery for a while, slowly your signals blink slower, etc, it could be because the car is running off the battery. alternator could be charging, but if the regulator is shot, the charge wont go anywhere.

this happened to me with my first car, and unlucky for me, regulator was in the ecu. but lucky for me, i got a new one for $30 from a u-pull place

 

quick and easy way to test if alternator is charging battery properly is hook up avolt meter to your battery start car and see how much the voltage jumps up shoul dgo from around 12.9 to around 14.0 if it does that will eliminate your voltage regulator and i do believe your voltage regulator is loctaed on the back of your alternator. one other thing to look for how is the alternator belt is it maybe slipping???

 

if not all these things, could be parasitic draw

 

it's not uncommon....sounds like an alternator problem.... I've tested like a million alternators and most of them will come out saying they're good even when they're not. What you need to do is find out how many amps is coming from the alternator to the starter. Voltage needs to be from 13.5-14.5 ...If it's higher, you have voltage regulator problems. Most of the time it won't be this though, your problem sounds similar to some I've tested in that the amps read way too low. Meaning there's not enough juice in the charge it's sending so your its working extra hard to keep up with your batteries demands.

 

i had the same problem and found that the wire going to the alternator was spliced and electrical taped together. didn't notice when i bought it at the junkyard because it was covered. after i soldered it together the cars runs great.

 

Thank you all so much for your input. To answer some questions and pose some new ones:

1. The battery is in the back because the previous owner wanted to lighten up the front. The wires going to it seem a bit weak. I would say 10 gauge. The belt is tight as can be from what I have checked.

Question: Is 10 guage wire to small to go for powering entire car from battery? (I think so but it ran just fine before)

2. I am getting it benchtested tomorrow at autozone. The car can run just fine during the day. I will not use any power features since I have about 0 of them anyways.

Question: To the person that found the spliced wire. If it is bench tested and reads bad, could it be the wire or the bench test just loops circuit around the alternator?


Hopefully, its a bad alternator because I doubt that wiring has something to do with it. Although, the small 10 awg wire may be killing the system. I know if I jump the battery for about 1 min, everything will work great for a while. In any case, thanks for all of your help!

Eddie

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pioneer162 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">have your alternator checked out at autozone or advance auto parts.....I'm pretty sure they do it for free....definately sounds like an alternator problem</TD></TR></TABLE>

Does distance matter? Its equaly as far from the power wire. In regards I mean, both seem to go to the ECU which is in the car along with the main fuse relay. Both have equal distances in wire.

 

I think you just replied to the wrong person...haha..NO it doesnt matter but you should go with bigger guage than that...If you wire is spliced escpecially improperly then yeah itll read off.plus not work properly..Also make sure you double check the ground..always a sneeky problem..

 

10 guage seems kinda small for battery cables....but again..if it was working fine for an extended period of time, that wouldn't be the problem, unless the wires became chaffed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoOstedEM1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you just replied to the wrong person...haha..NO it doesnt matter but you should go with bigger guage than that...If you wire is spliced escpecially improperly then yeah itll read off.plus not work properly..Also make sure you double check the ground..always a sneeky problem..</TD></TR></TABLE>

Where the hell is the ground here. I checked the trans ground and its fine, but is there a ground from the battery?

Eddie

 

Found the problem. Paid a mint to get it fixed but got it fixed regardless.

Needed 4awg to run that far. The 10 gauge was shitty and half the connections were soddered like ***!!!!!!!! Oh well, no it runs great. Got some 4 awg on the trans and motor ground too, idles better.

 

i can't believe he used 10 quage, thats like running your car of of speaker wire
what a dumb ***