Hi guys

I am having a problem with my civic. It was starting normal. Last week i started the car and it was bit difficult to start, i took it for 15 minutes drive and came back home. Then yesterday i tried to start it but nothing no dash lights nothing working. I thought it was the terminals , so i cleaned them and still nothing. I test the battery with multimetre and the result shows less than 1 volt!!! Could it be the alternator? the battery is brand new

 

Probably alternator had a same problem with mine. Check alternator wires everything is connected good and good ground

 

Use a battery charger or jump start to get the car started. Once started let it run for a few minutes with only the engine on everything else off. Then measure the voltage at the battery. If it is less than 13 volts the charging system is not working.

 

I did jump start the car yesterday, kept it running for 30 minutes. Hooked up multimetre it registered 14.3 volts but the battery light on the dash stays on!

 

Test your meter on another car or other system where you know what the voltage is. When the 9 volt battery in the meter is weak, it will read high. It is also important in that test to put the meter probes on top of the lead posts that are part of the battery. Not the terminals that are part of the car.

Having a 2000 model you need to check the wires that are affected by the fuse 15 problem. That can cause failure to charge or battery light staying on. The "battery" light is driven by the alternator and it indicates a failed self-test in the alternator. If you unplug the 4 wire plug from the back of the alternator and turn the key on, it should stay out. If it does that, but lights with the alternator plugged in and turning (engine running and belt OK), replace the alternator.

 

i think i have a short somewhere. I want to rewire the alternator. i did read some articles and i understand that there are two wires to the ecu (the White/green and white/red), the black/yellow(12v is it switched or hot) and the white/blue for the dashlight. The problem is the previous owner did custom wiring for the alternator. they are all different colors. Is there any way that i can identify them and run new wires?

 

Likely the best thing to do there is pull the harness off the car and replace it entirely with one from an unmolested parts car.