90 CRX HF, stock.
172k
Original parts mostly throughout, maintenance up to date.

Within the last month, I have seen the 'battery' light flicker (sometimes in 5th cruising on the highway), sometimes coasting in neutral. It's just been flickering, long enough to see what it was then back out. Also noticed some surging with the headlight and cluster brightness.

Fast Forward 3 weeks. Today that was happening a bit, then I noticed if increased the electrical load (headlights, rear defroster, etc) I would lose the radio, and the tach would go to zero.

I also could not get the wipers to move at high speed, and the blower fan for the climate control, on 'full', was barely a '2' (out of 4).

I believe my alternator is not putting out enough voltage to drive everything. I did pop the hood and noticed a little water (probably from opening the hood, it's raining) on the positive terminal.

Without having a volt-meter, I believe the alternator is failing/has failed. Could there be something else I could test or try before buying one and installing it? I will search for DIY.

Thanks HT.

 

its either battery or alternator. is it having a hard time starting? i'd take your car to your local parts store and have them hook up their machine to test your charging system

 

^Agreed. They can test both your alternator and your battery.

 

Never a hard time starting. Seems to be holding a charge just fine (it's not too hard to start a CRX anyway ). and it is probably marginally charging anyway, as I only get/got that flicker periodically (which indicates a charging problem, I believe).

I thought I had to bring the alternator and battery INTO the store to diagnose them (some sort of hooded machine they have)?

 

They can do a different kind of testing while it's in the car.

 

If you are not having starting issues, than Im not sure that the alternator is going to be the issue....but its too easy to test to not be the starting point.

Even though "it doesn't take much to start a CRX", it doesn't take long at all to drain a battery to death with a bad alternator either.

As suggested, get to an Auto Parts store and have it checked. I know most can check them on the car, or you can pull it and pretty much anywhere can bench test it.

 

If it starts up everytime without problems then this sounds more like a connection problem than an alternator problem. If your alt stops charging and your battery drains enough to where you are seeing the symptoms like tach going out and blower not blowing, Then the battery is almost discharged and it would either spin over really slowly when you cranked it or it wouldn't start.
I would check all the connections at the battery, alternator, and grounds and make sure nothings loose. Also make sure your belt is in good shape and tight.
If all that checks out put an alternator on it.

 

same thing happened to my old car, and it was indeed the alternator....so you can try to replace it then see what happens

 

I usually start the car then dissconnect the battery, if it dies it has a bad alternator.

 

Not a good habit on alternator equipped vehicles... doing that can fry the regulator instantly. On a generator equipped vehicle - do it all you like!

 

Check/clean all your grounds, battery terminals, etc. Get a multimeter and check battery voltage & alternator output at idle and at 2000 rpm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzz7P3qNHcE

Then connect long *** wires to your car's battery, and run those wires into the vehicle, to your multimeter. Rest the meter on the passenger seat and go for a drive. You will be able to test voltage at any given time so you can see exactly what it's doing when it is having the problem.

 

I have a friend who works at an MB Dealership who is going to test it for me. Picked up a spare alternator just in case it is bad he can swap it too. I am also going to get myself a multimeter for X-mas, as this should be something I can test myself and there have been a few times where I wanted to know voltages...

 

what is battery voltage when the engine is off, what is battery voltage at idle and what is battery voltage at 3500+ rpm. you can find all those in about 2 minutes with a multimeter and know right away if your alternator is kicking out enough or not...

 

I plan on stopping by Harbor Freight (the land of dangerously inexpensive tools (in terms of OPERATOR SAFETY, I mean) ) to pick up a cheap multimeter.

 

Harbor freight will be fine. A 5$ multimeter is all you need for this basic voltage testing.

 

i have the same problem. it's the alternator. the car died on me last nite in the middle of an intersection. the batteries are usually find in my case.. getting mine fixed tomorrow.

 

i had this happen with my hatch not too long ago.

check and re clean alll your grounds.
make sure your battery is at a FULL 100% CHARGE.
make sure your starter, battery and alternator PASS every test.

make sure u have the trans to chassis, vc to core support, and neg cable to chassis grounds and also check your thermostat ground for your ECU

 

The G~D~ multimeter was DOA... I should have tested it before I left the store. It literally was a $6.99 multimeter with a 20% coupon brought it to <$6.... pos of course, but not even one use??

Will diagnose it tomorrow with a real tech... will post results for closure.

 

The brushes are worn on your alternator. They are no longer making good contact so the alternator is only intermittently keeping up with demands.

 

Same **** happend to me turned out my ground from the tranny to chassis was bad on the chassis tightened it up and hasn't been a problem since

 

Old alternator was a bear to remove apparently. It smells of PB blaster and I heard 'air hammer' mentioned when discussing it! Could be the original, or at least a long term resident.

Old Alternator max output was 23Amps... New one is 60Amp (tested to 65amp without full revving). Nice.

Alternator! /end thread.

I appreciate all the input.

 

This is how they use to test them. HORRIBLE way though. If your alternator wasn't bad before then it is now if you do this.

 

I also heard this was a bad idea and should be avoided!

 

I said this already earlier in the thread...