My car is a Honda CRX 89

So I changed my alternator, and did the test again. but the same results. the car dies after i pull the negative cable off.. What else am i supposed to do to fix it? Idk what else is bad with the car.. Any ideas?

 

did you test the new alternator before putting it on...many alternators fail even though they might be brand new or rebuilt...!!!

 

just changed my alternator to night on my 97 civic ek hatch - car was running fine the day b4 and to day jst wouldnt start battery was dead i tested the battery it was good so lucky my friend had a extra alternator laying around so i was lucky not finished puting the axel and wheel on so illtest the shyt tmw other then that it started up started to tern off wen i terned the head lights on so i put the battery on the charger 4 the night

 

You are not supposed to pull the negative battery off on a ALTERNATOR... you can do that on GENERATORS... what the good cars (old cars like 60's and early) had on them. If you pull off the negative cable on an alternator you could end up frying the alternator.

What makes you think your alternator is even bad? Also did you test the old one at a parts store? Most do it for free...

 

Yea Auto Zone test's alternators for free

 

wtf? you're not supposed to pull off the battery cable..
and before you put a new alternator you're supposed to have a fully charged battery..

and whats the problem with the alternator?

 

well idk the mechanic that took a look did that to test the alternator?.. and idk. i checked both alternators i got at an autozone. and they said both were good. so im still unsure of the problem..

 

are you sure anything is wrong with the car?

 

isnt there a fuse for the alternator? check that

 

you still haven't told us what the problem is with your car.

 

oh sorry. haha well when im driving, if i turn on the lights the time and dashboard lights dim. i tried switching the alternator and getting a new battery. but nothing changes. idk what wrong.

 

yeah, thats normal. my da does it, my ef did it, and my 99 grand am gt does it.

 

The most likely suspects are cables and grounds.

Pull the ground cable from the battery. Clean the connection to the frame. Both sides should be shiny. Replace the lockwashers.

Ditto: inspect, clean the engine-frame jumper. Now work on the battery hot, alternator ground [you can add a alternator frame <-> battery ground jumper as well].

Also look at the alternator hot terminal. Loose?

Put all back together. Install the neg. battery cable last. Test.

You could also use a DVM to do some troubleshooting. What's the battery voltage [DIRECTLY on the battery terminals....] at idle, 2500 RPM, with a headlight load?

BTW: Never EVER pull a battery cable while the engine is running.

 

oh another thing.. today i was driving around the parking lot at my school. and then the battery light turns on. i think i heard something sparking. but idk. is that any help?

 

The battery light is there only for one reason: to show when a "no charge" situation is present. It has nothing to do with the battery only the alternator. I would say check into more stuff like fusible links and get the alternator tested as well. Either that or check your grounds and your power cable, but I somewhat doubt those are your problems.

Also are you running under driven pulleys by chance?

 

i got the alternator tested and they said it was fine. im going to check the cables.. then ill update

 

Fuse box is bad under the hood. My battery light came on in my old crx, changed alt is still stayed on. Got tired of ****ing with car, traded it. 3months later ended up getting car back still had battery light on (guy that got it from me litterally drove it home and never drove it again), my dad started ****ing around and swapped out fuse box....guess what no battery light.

Try that and see if it helps you out

 

but before you do any testing and before you put the alternator back in.. CHARGE the battery its free at auto zone and only takes 1 hour..and as far as the dimming thats normal on these cars..all 3 of my crx's did this..

 

i had to get towed again today. and i talked to the guy. and he said it might be electrical? something with my dizzy, ecu. idk. the starter and alternator and stuff seems to be fine now. im not sure whats up now. he said its gonna be a bitch to check all of that out. to see if theres a short. idk if i should give up.. and try to sell.

 

its not normal if all your lights dim when you turn the headlights on.. if you're referring to just the clock dimming, then yes it was designed to do that. the dash lights and interior lights should not dim at any point.

the battery dummy light will also come on to indicate an overvoltage.

to OP: like was already said, it could be the electric load detector (ELD) which is located inside the fuse box.

here's how to test it:

 

well yeah sorry for not making myself clear..only the clock dims..

 

Change the fuse box under the hood, im tellinjg you I had the same issue and that was the cause of it.

 

OMFG are you kidding me?!?!?!? You don't have any problems, that is normal. The factory did that so your clock and such wouldn't blind you while you are driving at night.... Wow kid, WOW!!!

 

please before you make the mistake disconnect the battery before you play with the grounds and cables... my dumbass friend didint and fried his new alt and fused his wrench to the alt haha

 

so i checked the fuse box and it seems to be good. it just wont start. everything is working. but it wont start. i dont think the starter is bad either.