1986 Accord DX

I was driving my car and the battery light was coming on intermittently. I drove home without any problems. The next day, while driving there was a lot of squealing, and the battery light stayed on constantly for about 30mins and then the engine died. The battery was dead. After getting a jump start, I was able to drive a few miles before it died again.

After getting it home I was poking around thinking about replacing the alternator when I noticed that there was a 12mm nut on the top of the alternator bracket that was so loose I could spin it with my fingers. So, I tightened it up thinking "Maybe this is why it was squealing so much and not charging." It didn't seem to make any difference.

(After a bit more research, I don't think this nut has anything to do with belt tension.)

I jump started it again, and it fired right up. It's still squealing, but the battery light is no longer on. So with the engine idling, and the headlights on, I disconnect the cable from the positive battery cable. There is no difference in the engine's idle, or the brightness of the headlights.

So, now I'm confused. Should I trust the alternator?

 

Go to autozonee or walmart. Get them to test your alternator. On my car, the nut on top of the alternator does effect belt tension which definitely could stop the squealing. If the tension got too low then maybe your alternator just couldn't keep up.
Doug

 

Just replace it, they are relatively inexpensive and its better to do it as opposed to sitting on the side of the road wishing you had.

 

Yeah, I was trying to avoid that because the repair manual said I would have to remove the driver's side drive axle.

However, I went for it and was able to get it out by removing the air filter box.

It ended up costing me $30 and about 2 hours.