Hi all, long time no see.

Do I need a new alternator?

My 2007 Civic Si has been corroding battery terminals surprisingly quickly. It will barely start as if the battery is low, so I clean the terminals and then everything is fine for a month or two until I have to repeat. I originally thought the battery was dying until my local trusted parts store tested it for me and told me just to clean my terminals.

I've also noticed that the charge light on my cell phone resets every few minutes as if the charger was disconnected. I went through a couple of cheap chargers which eventually died until I got the really nice Dash Charger for my OnePlus phone. The Dash Charger has survived, but the ongoing disconnect/reconnect persists.

If I didn't know better I'd say the stator/voltage regulator is flaky, but I don't really feel like throwing an alternator at this car just to test my theory, especially if it doesn't solve the problem!

What else could it be?

 

Does the cluster "battery" light turn on or flicker while driving?

Clean battery posts/connectors and then monitor system voltage for day. Post findings.

 

No, nothing like that. The car appears to run perfectly fine.

How would I go about monitoring?

 

Check voltage with a voltmeter.

 

Pics? Undercharging(uncommon) and or leaks around the battery posts can cause corrosion.

My vote is leaks,it is the more common issue,particularly on cheaper made or older batteries, additionally if you are undercharging the battery there are a host of other symptoms that typically accompany this issue....

 

Thanks for the reply! I will take pics when I have a chance and post back.

Interesting, I would have assumed it was overcharging, since I've noticed that I have to refill the fluid more frequently as well. My current theory is that the voltage regulator is wonky and the battery is overcharging, cooking off the fluid and corroding the terminals.

 

 

They bench tested it and said it's fine, they didn't want to warranty it.


Can anyone link to pictures of all the grounds on this car? I'm starting to think I have a grounding issue, although it runs fine once started.

 

 

​Was the battery capacitance tested or load tested? They are different tests that require different pieces of equipment that stress the battery in different manners and yield different results.

Additionally alternators that are in the beginning stages of failure,usually tend to exhibit signs of failure after they are nice and hot,like after driving around for an hour or more....



A leaking battery will pass any test. Doesn't mean its not leaking.

I d replace that battery,with a quality battery(usually in the $100-$150 range) before going down the rabbit hole.....

 

I'm honestly not sure but I can ask. I think they said it was a load test, designed to simulate charging, starting, charging again?
I'm fairly convinced it's the starter now, and the corrosion is a separate issue I think. I've been parking on hills the last couple of days and it runs fine once I roll-start it.

Failing alternator meaning not charging, or overcharging? That was actually my original theory - failing alternator overcharging and cooking the battery.

Thank you, good reminder! I will lean on them again about replacing it.

When AAA tried to help me jump it and it wouldn't turn over, he put a brand new battery in the car just to see if it would start and it wouldn't, even with freshly clean terminals. Just out of curiosity, once the car was running I tried to engage the starter motor and got the same dead click as before, so I'm assuming that means the starter itself is fried.

Thank you again for all the help!!