yes, the alternator has been changed, with a new belt and everything.

i used a multimeter with the recent alternator i installed, and it showed over 14 volts with the car turned on. my battery just died on me again.

i have an oddysey battery, and i am beginning to feel that the honda alternator is not strong enough to charge these deep cycle batteries. i am running a sohc motor btw.

any ideas?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pendejon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes, the alternator has been changed, with a new belt and everything.

i used a multimeter with the recent alternator i installed, and it showed over 14 volts with the car turned on. my battery just died on me again.

i have an oddysey battery, and i am beginning to feel that the honda alternator is not strong enough to charge these deep cycle batteries. i am running a sohc motor btw.

any ideas?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wouldn't think the alternator is an issue in any way. I know several hondas that have been using deep cycle optima batteries for years without any problems. Could your battery itself be bad? Also check for possible shorts in wiring somewhere maybe. Just guesses.

 

I had a similar problem before. My battery would lose all charge if I let it sit for more than 24 hours. I found out the wire for the horn was shorting out under the steering wheel; the horn itself was broken so it never made a peep. Took me awhile to figure out where the problem was, and that was actually a pretty easy short to locate.

 

is there any way to use a multimeter to try detectin such shorts?

im gonna try riding on my friends battery to see if its my battery. i had an optima that ended up being worthless after a year, and the same thing with an optima my friends had for the same amount of time as well.

 

bump casue mine is doing the same thing....

 

how did u find the short? just going through the whole harness? is there a way to use a multi meter to find shorts.

i think i might have a short cause my car used to have an alarm that was removed.

 

bump...i agree

 

I've got a similar problem with an optima battery. i was just told this technique, unhook the neg on the battery, with a multimeter check for voltage inbetween the neg and a good ground (as if reconecting the batter through the multimeter). there should be no voltage, unless there's a short.
so then unhook fuses one by one(to dissconnect acceseries) and every time check for voltage, put it back try another, until you isolate the origin of short. then if its your headlights for example, then you check the wiring and relays ect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by grog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've got a similar problem with an optima battery. i was just told this technique, unhook the neg on the battery, with a multimeter check for voltage inbetween the neg and a good ground (as if reconecting the batter through the multimeter). there should be no voltage, unless there's a short.
so then unhook fuses one by one(to dissconnect acceseries) and every time check for voltage, put it back try another, until you isolate the origin of short. then if its your headlights for example, then you check the wiring and relays ect. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats not really a good idea to check for shorts the best way is to use a good multimeter with continuity. As for you battery going died it is probably caused by some kind of paristic drain which could be a short. Do you have an alram or system in the car or something in the cigarette lighter cause there is always power to the cigarette lighter socket.

 

^^ I agree with this guy. You might have a parisitic draw that is draining your batt. Also, when does the battery die? Driving or sitting? You should also check your battery voltage again. If you just ran your car then shut it off and turn your headlights on for one minute to get the static charge off of it. Then turn the headlights off for one minute. Then use your multimeter to check the battery. If its 12.6 then its perfect. But I doubt your battery will hit that because its been drained so much. If your battery keeps getting drained like that then it starts loosing its lead inside and the amount of voltage it can store is greatly diminished.

After you check that then start the car and then check the battery again. It should be above 12. If its not then your alternator isnt giving your battery enough recharge.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jakscivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Then use your multimeter to check the battery. If its 12.6 then its perfect.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

No its not he said he is using a odyssey battery I have one too they are powerful for their size because they are like a 13.xx almost 14v battery. My regular 12 volt charger wouldn't charge the odyssey battery up all the way I had to buy the special odyssey charger. This might be his problem too. And just because your alternator is putting out 14 volts you have no idea how many amps its putting out, you need to go to autozone or pep boys and have them check the amps the alt. is putting out, if its putting out 10amps at idle but your car is drawing 15 amps at idle the power that cant be supplied from the alt. is being drained from the battery. it is most likely a alternator problem, have the auto store check the amps on the battery too I have seen these be defective as well.

 

Ive never heard of that battery before. New to me. Ok then this guy should try to use a different battery. Try putting in a normal battery. Either way, if you check your battery and its around 10v or so then your battery is probably screwed. Same principal as other batteries. If it keeps getting drained then the voltage power will go down.

 

i had the same problem, ended up being the power wire going to the fuse box was loose.