Hello, I reallllllly need some help. I have a 2014 CRV in which im installing an aftermarket stereo. I got an aftermarket alternator which is bypassing the PCM or ECM so I can increase my voltage, but the car is not recognizing I have an ALT and is throwing my AWD light on and disengaging my AWD. I've tried calling about 15 places today, nobody knows how I can get around this. Curious to hear if anyone here has done this before. The ALT is 1pin plug.

 

I've never dealt with this before specifically, so I'm trying to think through it...

Your alternator is supposed to make somewhere between 12.8V and say...13.8V stock. The alternator sends a reference voltage to pin 1 of your PCM in order for your PCM to verify that the alternator is doing what it's supposed to be doing. You bought an aftermarket alternator that'll produce more than stock voltages, and in order to keep the PCM thinking you're producing stock voltages, you disconnected the reference sent to Pin 1. Is this all correct so far?

My first thought is, is this a common practice? Will it over-volt delicate computer equipment around the vehicle? I've added higher amperage alternators to run additional loads, but I'm not familiar with people installing higher voltage units.

That aside, what is the stock reference voltage sent to Pin 1? Does it send full charging voltage, or is it paired down to like 5V (like most other reference voltages) to protect the PCM? My initial thought is you reconnect your reference voltage signal back to Pin 1, but maybe include a resister set in-line so that your new voltage winds up being what it should be by the time it hits the PCM. If you're charging at 15V and you want the PCM to see 13V, you can do the math to find out how much resistance you need for that particular voltage drop.

 

Yes that is correct. It is common practice for many cars when doing a high output alt. I think its just this model CRV that has this issue. I've been chatting with another Honda tech and this did not happen to his accord when he unplugged the ALT. I'm trying to keep voltage right about 15-15.2 which won't harm anything.
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Problem with your suggestion is even if I do a resistor, the stock plug is still unplugged so it doesnt see any signal. The other problem (ive been told) is since its a 1 pin plug, theres no way to "tap into a wire" to "trick" the system with resistors. I think thats usually done with a sense wire, which I don't believe I have on this since its a 1 pin plug. Might not be a way around this one.

 

The 2014 CR-V has a LIN (Local Interconnect Network) controlled charging system; as, with the newer Hondas.

The OEM alternator voltage regulator has a LIN wire going to the PCM (the LIN wire is tan on the 2014 CR-V). The LIN wire allows the PCM to control voltage and load response control rate. The PCM can also read back information and status of the regulator and alternator through the LIN wire. The LIN provides control/diagnostic on the same wire. There most likely is an IC chip in the OEM regulator since there is the LIN wire.

The solutions which are not readily available yet that I know of: (1) an aftermarket LIN-compatible high output alternator for the Honda, or (2) someone figures out how to bypass the Honda ELD (electrical load detector) -- there is a guy (a guru that doesn't come to this forum) that does understand how to do this with the LIN controlled system; but, there have been no further information from him from a long time now.

 

great info, thats really to bad that guy isn't around anymore. I don't know anyone whos familiar with how to make a HO ALT to do that. I've contacted several HO ALT companies.

 

Any idea what I can look for to locate that highly valued person? lol. I'm willing to pay someone at this point to figure it out. i have to re-do soooooooo much to get around this now

 

I don't know much about stereos but i suspect you are after high power ( wattage) to run amplifiers.
Since wattage is amps x volts, why don't you add amperage instead of volts.. it will solve your problem and you can go back to the oem wiring.
Add a deep cycle Optimum battery in parallel with your amp power supply and capacitor and the battery will supply a ton of extra amps
450 amp stock battery and 1 550 amp Optimum deep cycle batteries,for example is 1000 amps potential x 14.4 volts at alternator so thats 1400 watts plus whatever amperage the alternator puts out. You could also add 2 deep cycles for more amperage.
To do it your way you need to put a voltage regulator in line with the PCM to trick it into reading 13.8 to 14.4 volts max. But there are also other electronics in the car that may trigger DTCs for high voltage.

 

My amp is rated at 14.4V and the lithium battery im running wants to see 15v+.

 

What advantage does the lithium battery provide in this setup?

 

Sooo many. You get more power out of the amp, they are lighter, smaller, and pretty much in every aspect better.

 

Seems like allot of dicking around but like I said I'm not an audiophile just a mechanic. I would simply add amperage to get wattage and leave the electrical system intact.

What about this... use a voltage reg external to the altenator to feed the cars system at required voltage and a seperate line ahead of this voltage regulator to send current to the amps. Then the oem system is intact and you've got what you need for your lion pack ...I found this on the web that may lead to a solution..

https://svrambleon.com/balmar-extern...age-regulator/

 

I'm not sure how you would hook up two seperate regulators with one alternator? None the less, there has to be 1 regulator hooked up to the PCU so the car knows there is a regulator...but that will then control the voltage for the rest of the car

 

I get what you're saying about the weight but unless you're on a quarter-mile track weight shouldn't be an issue; you're adding amplifiers subwoofers and presumably MDF boxes for structures to the car so you're adding weight in this whole operation. From what I know about batteries there's a lot of advantages to lithium batteries with weights and voltage holding a steady rate of power as they decline in charge, however you're going to be running an alternator while you drive and listen to tunes, so charge rates shouldn't really be an issue. Additionally a lead acid battery has a higher rate of surge current so when you're banging out your bass a lead acid battery is going to supply high surge current to meet the demand.
not trying to chage your mind as I know your on a mimission, but just thinking about what is easier.

 

Well what you would do here is run the output wiring from the alternator to the regulator. Where are the wire connects to the regulator you would also run that same wire so it goes directly from the alternator to your amplifier circuit. And then the output from your voltage regulator, say 14 Volts for example, would go to the car's electrical system through the PCM etc.

 

Do you have the Honda eletrical manual for this vehicle

 

I hear ya, many lithium cells are designed to have a faster discharge/recharge rate much superior to agm. For example, in my last car I had a 3500w amp which I was pushing pretty hard, I had a 24ah cmax battery on stock ALT, I had absolutely zero voltage drop at full tilt, I'd need about 150ah+ of AGM to perform that well. These cells can last 30,000 cycles. Also for this system if I used AGM batteries I would need two batteries that way about 60 to 70 lb each and the space to hook them up. My lithium battery is only 20 lb, so I'm saving 120lbs which is pretty significant considering how much weight I'm already adding. Lithium is the modern way for car audio in the aftermarket DIY world, can't even compare. I've searched high and low at this point, there is no workaround that I've found

 

Your research is greater than mine.
But the Optima yellow top is 43 lbs and 800 CCA so its surge current would be far in access of what you would require I would think? ..

Cant you stack your lithims in a group to give you a voltage more akin to the vehicles operating voltages?

 

Cca isn't to relevant, it's AH that's key for car audio. The cell configuration wouldn't work for cmax cells, it's either 12 or 16V. I'm getting my alt modified to work with the factory harness and getting a different type of lithium cell that can operate better around 13 volts. Yellow tops were good back in the day when they were American made but the quality has gone down and there is much better out there these days

 

I think the solution lies in a seperate external regulator. There's allot of info online about these as many RV people use them as house batteries.
Get a Honda service manual ( and the ETM , or electrical troubleshoot manual) . You can usually get the set from ebay for 50 bucks or less.
Youll he glad you did and it will help on everything else youl do to this car. I swear by factory serviceservices and i have them for almost all of my cars. Its saved me big bucks in repairs and broken trim peices .

 

Alright. Well keep up the posts . I will he follwing to see what works out!

 

With regards to yellow tops, what do you recommend. I have a car that I drive pretty infrequently and I was going to change it to a deep cycle battery because other than putting a battery charger on it all the time it just sits in the driveway and I've already replace the battery twice because regular car batteries don't like to be discharged for too long. What would you recommend for a good AGM deep cycle. I need to use an AGM because the battery sits under the back seat although it is vented out the floor in this application

 

Honestly not sure, I've been out of the agm game for quite a while, but hit up some car audio pages on FB, those will be the best agm recommended batteries out there

 

I have a car that sits outside and doesn't drive much also. I bought one of those little solar powered trickle chargers off Amazon for like 40 bucks. Results are...mixed. Starting to use it coincided with the installation of a brand new battery so I'm not 100% sure if it's making a difference, but reviews are generally positive if you don't get a super cheap, junky one.

 

Ive tried those here. But on the "wet " coast of BC we get allot of clouds. I could get a bigger one . I was looking a small trickle charges (7amp max) that desulfate batteries and maintain then on Ali Express

I have a camper van i leave parked for months at a time and I bought a cheap maintainer/ charger. That's been succeful.