UPDATE:

I fixed the problem. Someone cut and spliced the 10 gauge white/red wire that comes from the alt. to the fuse box. The splice was done right at the flex point where the cable comes out of the harness. There were maybe 3 or so copper strands holding and not really doing the job. I found that when I started shaking the wires and found that the engine would surge a bit as I moved the wires. One of those times the wire simply came off and I ended up with a piece of wire that just went to the fuse box.

I cut the harness plastic cover back and cut back to where the wire was not corroded. I spliced the wire with a new piece of copper wire. This time the splice was inside the harness where it doesn't flex and it's water tight.

That sort of crap is not covered in any book.
I hate poor repair men.








Hey everybody.

( I searched and read a few posts but did not find what I am looking for)

My 96 Accord LX has a problem with the charging system. The battery is no loner being charged. I assumed it was a bad alternator so I bought a Denso alternator. I installed it and still, there is no charge going to the battery. I measured the voltage at the battery which is fully charged and the voltage stays at 12.4 volts. I know it should be close to 14 Volts or at least fluctutate as I rev te engine.

I think the ignition switch could be the cause. The last few times I started the engine there was a very slight delay from the moment I turned the key to the time the starter engaged. Before I buy a new switch, is there any tests I could do?

Is there any way to test the alternator at the plug? Is there a wire at the alt. where I could tap and see the voltage that is supposed to charge the battery?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

"Is there any way to test the alternator at the plug? Is there a wire at the alt. where I could tap and see the voltage that is supposed to charge the battery?"

The big cable on the alternator, using my 95 4 cyl, see what that says?

 

I think I remember some similar situations where it turned out to be the battery needing replacement. Can you "borrow" a battery to test?

 

The battery is 6 months old and it holds charge just fine. I took it off and charged it overnight. In fact, the car will run on battery for quite a while until it dies again.
I do have more batteries at home. I'll give it a shot see what happens.

Still, I should see 13 to 14 volts while the engine is running at the battery.

 

your right you should have 14 volts at the battery. try this start the car and disconnect the positive terminal while the car is running. What does the engine do? Does it die or continue to run? If the engine continues to run its not the alt, to answer your question there is another way to test the alt. there is a 10mm nut under a rubber boot on the radiator side of the alt.Take a volt meter find a good ground and put the positive lead on that 10mm nut if you get 14 volts you know the alt is ok. if you continue to have the same problem it's something else. I'll need my service manual to give you any other info, so i'll take me a min to dig it out. Let us know.

 

Now, why didn't I think of that?
I started the engine and the alternator is putting out ~15 volts at the 10mm nut.
If I disconnect the battery, the engine dies right away.
So... the alt is fine, the battery is fine, somehow that 15 volts out of the alt is not making it to the battery terminals.

Thank you for that tip!

 

is there a fuse for the alternator?

 

there is a fuse located in the fuse box under the hood on the passenger side close to the fire wall, it's fuse number 15 it should be a 100amp or a 80amp. I have a factory service manual from honda. so if you need a wiring diagram pm your email address I can scan the page and email the pcture to you. There used to be the same manual in a pdf style format on this site but for some reason it got deleted. if you go to the 88 to 91 crx/ef civic section and look under the crx faq 2.0 section there is tons of info on there. I know it says Im a trial user but I was a member of this forum like 4 years ago with over a thousand posts and my stupid password won't work so i had to make a new account.

 

there is another fuse I forgot to tell you about under the dash the number 4 fuse it should be a 7.5 amp if it's blown replace it.

 

Well. It's fixed but it really it's not. I checked continuity from the alt. to the fuse box, removed and checked all the fuses related to the charging system and connected averything again. Now it works...but I did not really fix anything.

I am installing a voltage gauge to keep an eye on the charging system.
Thank you all for your help.

 

Found the problem.
Descripton at the first post.