04 CRV - Flickering battery light at around 3500rpm
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04 CRV - Flickering battery light at around 3500rpm
04 CRV with 135k miles on it. Flickering battery light at around 3500rpm and light will come on steady when first started but go off after a few minutes. It has a 4 year old battery and a 2 year remanufactured Denso alternator and Gates tensioner. New Duralast serpentine belt that I installed about 3 months ago when the one in the car suddenly began shredding at its edge a mile from home for no apparent reason. Heard strange noise from under the hood to pulled over to look and found about an 1/8 inch of its inner edge had literally peeled away. Managed to make it home though and got the Duralast and put it in.
About a month ago I noticed the quick flickering battery light when I was cruising down the highway one day. Not sure if thats the first day it had done it because it was so faint and quick unless I was looking at the light I never would have noticed it. Got nervous and turned off the AC to take any unnecessary load off the system. Light flickering seemed to stop. Made it home and took car to Advance Auto and had them do a battery and charging test. It passed with no issues. Went home to figure out what the next step would be.
About a month ago I noticed the quick flickering battery light when I was cruising down the highway one day. Not sure if thats the first day it had done it because it was so faint and quick unless I was looking at the light I never would have noticed it. Got nervous and turned off the AC to take any unnecessary load off the system. Light flickering seemed to stop. Made it home and took car to Advance Auto and had them do a battery and charging test. It passed with no issues. Went home to figure out what the next step would be.
Next day I used the car and everything seemed normal. So I sort of ignored the issue but bought my own battery/alternator tester to run my own test in the future. Did run one test when I got it and it passed both battery and charging test. Everything seemed fine for a couple of weeks. Then suddenly I noticed the light issue again but only when the car would hit around 3500rpm or above. Went back home with it and put it on my own battery/alternator tester that I had bought and it passed...sort of. What I found was if the battery test would fail only if I tested it with the engine running. Tester would say replace. With the engine off the battery would pass. Charging system test passed with no issues. Voltage at battery was around 14.5ish volts even with lights and AC running and 12.5ish with engine off.
Thought that was strange. Checked grounds and such. Everything was clean and solid. Could not find issues. Decided for the hell of it to hook up the battery from my Nissan Altima. First I ran the same test on the Altima to make sure everything was fine with that battery and it was. So I temporary put that battery in my CRV and reran the test and it tested fine with engine or off. So I figured hmm, it must be the battery. Put the CRV's battery back in and ran one more test to be sure and again it failed with the engine running. So I went and got a new battery put it in and reran the test and battery passed fine. So figured ok that solves it. Other battery was 4 years old anyway to I wasn't too upset. Took it out for a drive and no flickering battery light. All was good, or so I thought.
A week goes by light free but then suddenly again flickering battery light issue reappears. Also in addition to that battery light now occasionally comes on steady for a few minutes when you start the car but then goes off. Ran my battery and charging test again and new battery also now has same issue where it passes with engine off but tells me to replace it when the engine is running. Charging system is still testing a-ok. Took car to Autozone for them to rerun the test to see if it matched and their tester is saying alternator is bad due to low voltage. Their test results said diodes and regulator were fine though.
Pulled the alternator out of the car and checked all the connections on the alternator and they are clean and corrosion free. They still look like new actually. Also got a cigarette lighter voltmeter with two USB ports in the car now and with lights and AC in it drops only as low as 12.5 volts. I tested that reading against my battery testers reading at the battery terminals and the cigarette lighter one runs about .75 lower than at the battery so I am guessing that just a bit of electrical system resistance to the cigarette lighter or maybe inaccurate voltmeter.
Not sure what the hell to do. It does sound like the alternator but I am getting mixed info from the tests. My test continues to say alternator is fine. Autozones test says its bad. Battery voltage at battery terminals remains 14.5ish volts with engine on and 12.5ish with engine off when I test it with my tester.
Any suggestions.
About a month ago I noticed the quick flickering battery light when I was cruising down the highway one day. Not sure if thats the first day it had done it because it was so faint and quick unless I was looking at the light I never would have noticed it. Got nervous and turned off the AC to take any unnecessary load off the system. Light flickering seemed to stop. Made it home and took car to Advance Auto and had them do a battery and charging test. It passed with no issues. Went home to figure out what the next step would be.
About a month ago I noticed the quick flickering battery light when I was cruising down the highway one day. Not sure if thats the first day it had done it because it was so faint and quick unless I was looking at the light I never would have noticed it. Got nervous and turned off the AC to take any unnecessary load off the system. Light flickering seemed to stop. Made it home and took car to Advance Auto and had them do a battery and charging test. It passed with no issues. Went home to figure out what the next step would be.
Next day I used the car and everything seemed normal. So I sort of ignored the issue but bought my own battery/alternator tester to run my own test in the future. Did run one test when I got it and it passed both battery and charging test. Everything seemed fine for a couple of weeks. Then suddenly I noticed the light issue again but only when the car would hit around 3500rpm or above. Went back home with it and put it on my own battery/alternator tester that I had bought and it passed...sort of. What I found was if the battery test would fail only if I tested it with the engine running. Tester would say replace. With the engine off the battery would pass. Charging system test passed with no issues. Voltage at battery was around 14.5ish volts even with lights and AC running and 12.5ish with engine off.
Thought that was strange. Checked grounds and such. Everything was clean and solid. Could not find issues. Decided for the hell of it to hook up the battery from my Nissan Altima. First I ran the same test on the Altima to make sure everything was fine with that battery and it was. So I temporary put that battery in my CRV and reran the test and it tested fine with engine or off. So I figured hmm, it must be the battery. Put the CRV's battery back in and ran one more test to be sure and again it failed with the engine running. So I went and got a new battery put it in and reran the test and battery passed fine. So figured ok that solves it. Other battery was 4 years old anyway to I wasn't too upset. Took it out for a drive and no flickering battery light. All was good, or so I thought.
A week goes by light free but then suddenly again flickering battery light issue reappears. Also in addition to that battery light now occasionally comes on steady for a few minutes when you start the car but then goes off. Ran my battery and charging test again and new battery also now has same issue where it passes with engine off but tells me to replace it when the engine is running. Charging system is still testing a-ok. Took car to Autozone for them to rerun the test to see if it matched and their tester is saying alternator is bad due to low voltage. Their test results said diodes and regulator were fine though.
Pulled the alternator out of the car and checked all the connections on the alternator and they are clean and corrosion free. They still look like new actually. Also got a cigarette lighter voltmeter with two USB ports in the car now and with lights and AC in it drops only as low as 12.5 volts. I tested that reading against my battery testers reading at the battery terminals and the cigarette lighter one runs about .75 lower than at the battery so I am guessing that just a bit of electrical system resistance to the cigarette lighter or maybe inaccurate voltmeter.
Not sure what the hell to do. It does sound like the alternator but I am getting mixed info from the tests. My test continues to say alternator is fine. Autozones test says its bad. Battery voltage at battery terminals remains 14.5ish volts with engine on and 12.5ish with engine off when I test it with my tester.
Any suggestions.
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Charlie Moua
Honda CRX / EF Civic (1988 - 1991)
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May 17, 2003 10:42 AM