my friend has a 99 civic with a d16y7 and the light pulse. they get brighter and dimmer only when the engine is running. all the light on the car do it. and the check engine light is on. also the when he runs the ac the car idles so low that i almost cuts off.

 

alternator

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KURRRWA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alternator </TD></TR></TABLE>

It's common. Mine does it to, but it hasn't done it in a while. I have a '99 EX. I also know of some other people on here who's car does the same thing.

 

check your grounds, also what kind of cel is it throwing?

 

I'm 99.9% positive that the CEL doesn't have anything to do with the lights flickering.

 

what if it is the eld?

 

i know the solution
i had the same problem on my car
let me guess you had the alternator tested and it tested good
it isnt the alternator it is the voltage regulator
most hondas use a mitsubishi alternator
and some use a nippondenso
and imo mitsubishi vr SUCK
the simple solution is to replace the alternator due to the fact that the vr
is inside the alternator housing
most likely you will run into the problem that there is a god aweful problem
with the price gouging so the cheapest place to look is IMPORT AUTO SALVAGE
i think their website is importautosalvage.com or something like that
they are located in charlotte nc but they do a good job of shipping and they sell quality used parts and if you call them ask for larry or randy because they are very helpful

btw my flickering problem drove me nuts till i got it fixed

 

Unless autozone uses Mitsubishi alternators for s you might be right. But I don't really think that they do. I've had 2 autozone alts in my car and it still flickers.

 

there is a tech bulliten on this bad ground on the alternator. run a extra ground to the alternator from the chassi or cut the computer control wire on the alternator

i have done this on my 96 dx. got this info from a buddy at a dealer.

 

it isnt what autozone uses it is what honda uses
honda finds it cheaper to use an exhisting design
than to manufacture their own alt
why they use mitsu. or nipp. i dont know why
but the prices for them are rediculous