My wife drives a 2008 Honda Accord 4 cylinder. Lately the vehicle has been acting like it wants to die at idle. The stereo also turns off and then back on as well as the gauge cluster doing the same thing. The headlights also turn on and off by themselves. The battery has been tested and tested good. The alternator is charging a bit low at 13.9 volts. The battery terminals are not corroded either. I'm at a loss. I know the alternator needs to be changed just curious if someone out there knows of any other underlying electrical problems? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

even though the alternator is only charging slightly low it's a sign that it will fail under even more stress load. just change it out. should solve everything.

 

Start the car up cold so it's revving 1500 or so automatically. This is the rpm range you are supposed to be testing the alternator as this is where it makes its peak power. Test with no loads at all on. Should be 14.60 or so. Then turn on the headlights. It should stay at 14.00 at the very least. If not, then it probably is not making enough power. If it is, turn on the ac. With the compressor cycled on, assuming you have ac, it should stay at around 14.00 or more. If it is, then it's fine and you got something else going on. Make sure you are testing across the battery posts.