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Hey guys, I have a 1997 Honda Civic HX and I had a problem with my battery light constantly on. I’ve replaced the alternator, battery, ground wires and made sure everything is clean and not corroded. The belt is good to. Also checked all the fuses and don’t know what it could be at this point, I’ve used my multimeter and the ecu seems fine as well. Any suggestions? It hasn’t caused problems lately but it’s left me stranded before and I’d like to get it fixed before that happens
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The battery light usually means the alternator is not working (not that it’s faulty). The alternator needs to be turned on to charge, providing power to he field coil that is what at least one of the small wires going to it does. It’s possible that the problem is in that area. If I get a chance at work, I’ll take a look at the wiring diagram tomorrow and see if there is any notable areas for there to be an issue in that circuit.
Thanks man, unless I’m missing something it’s a very very small problem causing a bigger problem. I’m not the best with electrical diagnosis so thanks for those thatll help
Do you have over 14 volts with no load on? With loads turned on does the voltage drop and come back up, or does it drop until the car dies?
You either have a problem with your charging system, or a problem with whatever turns the battery light on.
So I put up those wiring diagrams at work earlier, but I was too busy to think about this at the time. I have a couple basic questions.
So what is the system voltage when running at idle with no loads with the battery light on?
You said 13.8v during load test. Was that at idle with the load being lights/fan/etc?
Was the battery light on during that test?
The battery light is on at ALL times, right?
You said this problem has left you stranded. What happened with that?
Have you ever confirmed the alternator not charging normally? (13.5v+ when running would be considered normal)The way your charging system is set up, it’s more complicated then most cars. It may be diagnosable with just symptoms and wiring diagrams. I’m not a Honda specialist, but I’ll try. I edited my previous post with the wiring diagrams so maybe another mind can come up with something, but we are definitely going to need as much really good information as possible from you to diag this one over the internet. There are several failure points in the system
The voltage at idle is 14.0, the battery light is always on. It’s super dim but it’s on. The alternator died and I replaced that in a parking lot and it got me going for a while. Still had the light on after I replaced it.
And yes with the lights on and the radio playing, if that counts for anything.
Also as of last week I have no illumination in my gauge cluster and my intermittent wiper doesn’t work, does the multiplex computer have anything to do with the battery light?
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Yes. inside the underhood fuse block is the ELD (see wiring diagrams) which in helps regulate the alternators charging rate. At 13.8 with loads on you should be ok, as long as the voltage isn’t dropping. Considering you’re having other issues there may be something else at play. Did these other issues happen at the same time as the battery light? I have seen some cars that go into a “protection” mode when they sense no charge by cutting off everything not required for the vehicle to run.
Have you thoroughly checked ALL of the fuses, even the underhood ones? I know you said earlier you checked them, but what kind of check? Did you pull each one and verify it with an ohmmeter or continuity tester? The way you describe the “dim” charge indicator lamp makes me also think about a bad or loose ground. Do you have a set of jumper (booster) cables? If so, clip one clamp of the jumper cable to the negative battery terminal, and the other end of that same cable to a good paint-free spot on the body (such as a bolt head) to add an additional ground. See if that makes a difference.
If the battery, fuses, and wiring are all good then there is something wrong with the alternator, even if the charging voltage is good, maybe the amperage is not. This happens a lot with some remanufactured (especially whoever rebuilds Autozone alts) and some aftermarket (new) alternators.
A dimly lit battery light even though you have normal or close to normal output can indicate an open in one of your diodes (of the diode trio) in the alternator.
You can test it (diode trio) by using your DVOM set to diode check.
Your values should read 0.5 to 0.7 V (same as 500 to 700 mV) with leads in one orientation (polarity)
reversed orientation (polariity) your values would be “OL”I hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.
[quote=”lar1969″ post=137904]A dimly lit battery light even though you have normal or close to normal output can indicate an open in one of your diodes (of the diode trio) in the alternator.
You can test it (diode trio) by using your DVOM set to diode check.
Your values should read 0.5 to 0.7 V (same as 500 to 700 mV) with leads in one orientation (polarity)
reversed orientation (polariity) your values would be “OL”I hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.[/quote]
Well today I rechecked all the fuses to be sure, my instrument cluster lights fuse was blown, replaced that. Went around and tightened down all the grounds and made sure the connections were good. My battery died again so I can’t turn my car on to see if anything was fixed yet.
I haven’t gotten around to testing the diodes yet, living in Texas right now sucks with all the rain hard to do anything and when it’s not raining there’s no time to work on the car.
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[quote=”conorem1″ post=137935] My battery died again so I can’t turn my car on to see if anything was fixed yet. [/quote]
Why did the battery die? Did you leave something on? Have you checked for parasitic draw? The battery shouldn’t die from just sitting for a few days.[quote=”cap269″ post=137936][quote=”conorem1″ post=137935] My battery died again so I can’t turn my car on to see if anything was fixed yet. [/quote]
Why did the battery die? Did you leave something on? Have you checked for parasitic draw? The battery shouldn’t die from just sitting for a few days.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0%5B/quote%5D
Beats me, I always check to make sure everything is off because I take the keys out so can’t be that. (That I’m aware of). And no I haven’t checked I’ll look into that tomorrow and get back to yall
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