Just as the topic says, my car will only charge at 12.6 volts and once in a while the lights will dim in and out and the voltage jumps around quite a bit, i just put a brand new alternator in the car and changed a couple of the main grounds. The dude at auto zone told me that like 12.2 or something close to that is considered "normal" charging but any other car ive had has been right around 14 volts.

Is there something that could be wrong or is this normal?

 

almost every car i've measured across the battery with car running shows 13.8 volts or more at 800+rpm. At idle, it should still show 13.8 volts ideally.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrisw85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">almost every car i've measured across the battery with car running shows 13.8 volts or more at 800+rpm. At idle, it should still show 13.8 volts ideally.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats what i figured... What the hell would cause it to charge low? it measure 12.6ish at the alternator and at the battery... Would a slipping belt do it?

 

A broken voltage regualtor could cause it. I dont remember if its integrated on the Honda's alternators.

 

yeah... sounds more like a voltage regulator...

12.6V is quite low...

you running any insane ICE?

some volt regs are integrated into the alternator... what motor you running?

 

yes, a slipping belt will cause this. Also bad grounds will do the job. You said you changed the grounds. Go back and make sure there crimped tight as possiable. Not just with some pliers. Also make sure the battery is tight on the clamps. But since you said that you tested at the alternator. It could be bad grounds,bad alt itself, slipping belts, or bad regulator. Most integra/civic have internal regulators. I never seen and honda idel below 13 volts with out there being a problem in the charging system. 12.6v is just to low.

 

mine will charge at 12.6 the i hit like 3k and it will go back up to 14.1 volts. I cant figure out what the problem is on mine, I have been trying to figure it out for a while now. :-/

 

car electrical is a hard thing to understand let alone be told over the net. The best thing to do is to take it to a dealer or a shop the specalize in this sort of work. If the basic don't work its time to call in the pros. Most of the time its a simple fix

 

Not to thread jack, but I seem to be having the same problem too. Can someone please telll me what ground to look for and where's the voltage regulator? Thanks

 

your honda has a built in regulator. Make sure the tranny and block are grounded

 

more than likely its doing exactly what its supposed to do. hondas have an electronic load detector (eld). there are 2 diff charge states for this . 12. something, and 14. something. if you have a check engine light and the ecu goes into open loop it will turn off this feature and charge at 14v all the time. in the honda service manual their is a flow chart that shows how it works. after looking at it i figured out the easyist thing to do is leave your climate fan on 1 or 2. that way their is enough load being seen and it will put out 14v. if not anytime your at idle it will drop to 12v and if you hit the brakes the pull of the lights will make it drop more sometimes. most people discover this after adding a voltmeter and then get all concerned. when truth is the car has done it since it rolled off of hondas assembly line. its normal. hope this helps.

 

^^^^^ I agreee with you on this. But this mostly happens on the da's. I'll look more into this. Out of all the honda's that I worked on I never seen any charge at 12 volts. hummm

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. ill go back through and double check all the grounds and terminals and replace the belt since im sure its still the original belt.

Exactly how many grounds are there? I know there is the main one to the battery, the one on the alternator, one on the starter and one from the p/s bracket to the frame. Is that all of them?

Car is a 97 Civic Ex.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JSPECSIR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">more than likely its doing exactly what its supposed to do. hondas have an electronic load detector (eld). there are 2 diff charge states for this . 12. something, and 14. something. if you have a check engine light and the ecu goes into open loop it will turn off this feature and charge at 14v all the time. in the honda service manual their is a flow chart that shows how it works. after looking at it i figured out the easyist thing to do is leave your climate fan on 1 or 2. that way their is enough load being seen and it will put out 14v. if not anytime your at idle it will drop to 12v and if you hit the brakes the pull of the lights will make it drop more sometimes. most people discover this after adding a voltmeter and then get all concerned. when truth is the car has done it since it rolled off of hondas assembly line. its normal. hope this helps. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That helps alot but ive tried testing everything with loads on also. Lights, heater ect and it still doesnt change.

But ive noticed at times while driving that my headlights will dim in and out like there is a loose connection somewhere but im pretty sure there isnt... Is the ELD something that can go bad and is replaceable or is it like built into the ecu or something?

 

There's a ground from the tranny to the frame rail and the 'sensor ground' on the thermostat housing.

Did you just put in a brand new AutoZone alternator or something else other than OEM?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MR_EJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That helps alot but ive tried testing everything with loads on also. Lights, heater ect and it still doesnt change.

But ive noticed at times while driving that my headlights will dim in and out like there is a loose connection somewhere but im pretty sure there isnt... Is the ELD something that can go bad and is replaceable or is it like built into the ecu or something?</TD></TR></TABLE> well, ive found the easiest way to check is to unplug the o2 sensor plug on top of the tranny. this will deff. throw the cel and turn off the eld. this is a pretty easy way to test. the voltage should stay up around 14 or so while the engine is running. also make sure you battery is good, as it acts as a filtering device for all the voltage changes in the system and as a filter for the ripple on the voltage coming from the rectifier diodes in the alternator. let us know what happens with the cel on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JSPECSIR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> well, ive found the easiest way to check is to unplug the o2 sensor plug on top of the tranny. this will deff. throw the cel and turn off the eld. this is a pretty easy way to test. the voltage should stay up around 14 or so while the engine is running. also make sure you battery is good, as it acts as a filtering device for all the voltage changes in the system and as a filter for the ripple on the voltage coming from the rectifier diodes in the alternator. let us know what happens with the cel on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I checked it will the CEL on and it still tested at 12.5 at the alternator and the battery... Is the ELD something that can be replaced?

Any other suggestions? I dont have a couple hundred bucks to have a shop look at my car.

 

im not sure. from what i understand its inside the underhood fuse box. how old is your battery?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JSPECSIR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im not sure. from what i understand its inside the underhood fuse box. how old is your battery?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its a couple years old. Im gonna borrow a battery from a friend today that he just bought and see if that helps anything.

 

Still nothin...

 

where are you checking the voltage at? and are you using a multimeter or a volt gauge?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EE_Chris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you just put in a brand new AutoZone alternator or something else other than OEM?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JSPECSIR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">where are you checking the voltage at? and are you using a multimeter or a volt gauge? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Its been checked with both a volt meter and a multi-meter and the voltage reads 12.5-12.6 at the alternator and at the battery.

And the alternator is from autozone.. I didnt have 200 bucks to buy an oem one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MR_EJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And the alternator is from autozone.. I didnt have 200 bucks to buy an oem one.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Then go return this one and try another re-man from AutoZone. It's like a 50/50 shot of getting a working unit. The ECU controls the rate of charge and since it's sitting still at ~12.2v, it sounds like the ECU isn't asking the alternator to charge...or it's trying to ask it and the alternator isn't doing anything in return.

 

So is there a chance that the ecu might have something wrong with it??