My car has been running fine. All of a sudden the emergency battery light starts blinking. The car still runs fine. What could cause this?

 

its not a battery light. its the alternator light. it goes off when it senses less than 14V. it should be outputting 14.5V. it means the alternator is dying. verify with a voltmeter or just replace it soon before it leaves you stranded.

 

Probably a failing alternator. Have the alternator checked.

 

electrical short.Check all the fuses

 

Will do.... i really dont feel like taking my motor half way out to get to the alternator. I was messing with my sound system the other day i had the power wire loose and it toched the black thing above the battery. I've never opened it but it looks kind of like another fuse box. (i've only had the car a month) I hope i didn't short anything out

 

Weall replied a the same time!!!!

 

I had the same problem, new alternator fixed that. It was such a b*tch replacing the alternator though, lol.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slacker87 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Will do.... i really dont feel like taking my motor half way out to get to the alternator. I was messing with my sound system the other day i had the power wire loose and it toched the black thing above the battery. I've never opened it but it looks kind of like another fuse box. (i've only had the car a month) I hope i didn't short anything out </TD></TR></TABLE>

You don't need to take out your motor half way. All you need to do is jack the car up, remove the front driver side tire, and then unscrew/unplug the alternator, remove the braket the alternator slides on, and remove a... bar thingy under the alternator (I don't know what it's called). After that, it drops right out.

 

How hard is it to take out. I cant pay anyone and i really dont feel like doing it myself but oh well i guess i'll have to spend spring break working on the rex I wish i had a voltometer. I hope my amp just shorted something out

 

Sweet sounds like it wont be as hard as i thought. Thanks for the info !!

 

its not that hard to do. as long as you have a stock engine, it comes right out the driver side wheel well. just disconnect everything on it, slide it over the rear crossmember, then remove the lower alternator bracket. now you can slide the alternator out the wheel well. orientate the alternator with the pulley facing upwards and the bottom of the alternator out. almost like a jigsaw puzzle.

i can replace it in less than 30 minutes.

i dont listen to the ppl who say its easier to pull off your master cylinder. its not any easier and why mess with brake stuff when youre doing electrical stuff...

i recommend getting a rebuilt alt from honda. really dont recommend getting it from autozone, the lifetime warranty is attractive, but the reason i know how to replace it so quickly is because every alternator ive gotten from autozone has failed sooner rather than later.

 

How much are they and do you know how many amps they put out etc. I have a pretty decent sound system that will put some strain on it.

 

http://www.hondaautomotivepart...20ALL

i dont know what it takes to run a stereo. i dont know anytihng aobut that.

 

k, thanks

 

Go to Honda and buy new brushes for your alternator. It'll cost you about $12.00 and they're pretty easy to change. The flashing alternator light is the brushes bouncing off the comutator because they're worn down.

 

Could a beginner replace the alternator?

 

yes.

everyone starts somewhere. itll take you 5x longer than it would after your 3rd time.

theres multiple ways to do it. doing it the RIGHT way according to the shop manual requires a trick of positioning the alternator in the right position to pull it out the wheel well, without having to take apart the whole suspension. you just need to put the pulley facing up and the wheel well has a wide notch that it just fits through.

because other ppl cant figure it out, they remove the master cylinder, or move it across to the other side and remove the air intake to pull it out.

do whatever you want. but the 1st way is the way its supposed to be done, without messing with other parts of the car.

 

It was one of the first things I did to my crx back in 1999. As mentioned, it comes out through the suspension. You MUST have the front tires off the ground to get it out.

disconnect battery
Jack up front
unplug connector on back
unbolt/remove wire on top
remove top/bottom bolts
remove belt
remove bottom bracket
Remove alternator

 

take it to o'rieley's and they will hook a computer to your car and see what is wrong