1990 civic battery or alt problems

shady4evr · 01-29-2006, 06:00 PM

ok here is what is goin on with my 1990 civic 1.5 ... when i start up the car after jumping it the car will idle fine and go thru the rpm range fine.. after about 20 minutes of idling the car will start to bounce around in the rpm range going up and down as if the car wanted to die but wont... after that i will go and check the dash for any check engine lights which it does NOT have. the dash lights are dim, the door open light is dim. but after hitting the gas i can see that the lights get brighter.. now my problem is that.. the battery was just recharged today trickle charged all night.. also the battery will not get any keep any kind of charge.. i dont knwo what is wrong.. i change out a ton of things all my grounds are good.. i just dont know what is wrong.. the car will run fine after the battery is charged up to start the car. afterwards it wont start up after the battery is zapped of its juice.. dont know what to think... would my alternator be bad? would the battery just be the problem.. this is my 4th battery in 2 months.. PLEase HELP me.. this is my daily driver for school and work.and the winter beater.. help!!!!! please

Hybrid1990crx · 01-29-2006, 07:32 PM

sounds like the alternator is going bad, happens a lot now that our cars are getting older.

if you really want to check it out, see how much charging voltage your are getting at your battery with the car running, should be around 14.4ish for a good working alternator.

shady4evr · 01-29-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrid1990crx

sounds like the alternator is going bad, happens a lot now that our cars are getting older.

if you really want to check it out, see how much charging voltage your are getting at your battery with the car running, should be around 14.4ish for a good working alternator.

yeah just got back from autozone and they said i wasnt producing any juice.. i hate this damn honda.. lol... causing me more problems.. jeesh.. lol.. thanks again..is there anyway other than taking the alternator out to see if it really is the alt going bad or being bad?

thanks.
dave

Hybrid1990crx · 01-30-2006, 06:24 AM

yeah dude like i sent get out a volt meter and test the terminals to see what your charging voltage is. then check your fuses. then check wiring. best you can do without having a VAT machine to do real tests. you can then pull your alternator off and take it to autozone and they can hook it up to the test bench and run it to see if it fails or not.

Rayser34 · 01-30-2006, 09:47 AM

if ya dont have a meater just disco the batt while car is running and it should stay running if not then your alt is bad i had 1 go bad went and got a new 1 and found out that it was bad right out of the box returned it and no problems with it for years now

Figori · 01-30-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayser34

if ya dont have a meater just disco the batt while car is running and it should stay running if not then your alt is bad i had 1 go bad went and got a new 1 and found out that it was bad right out of the box returned it and no problems with it for years now

Actually.... Since our cars have computers, disconnecting the battery while it's running will ALWAYS kill the motor. So, that test is invalid. Just take it to AutoZone, let them hook the machine up to your car and tell you, or do like Hybrid said and take it off of the car and let them test it. That is going to be your best bet.

Also, a bad alternator will kill your battery, as well as a bad battery can kill your alternator. Kind of a viscious cycle, I know. And the lights going bright and dim is defenitely sounding like a bad voltage regulator. So. Get that thing tested, man.

Hybrid1990crx · 01-30-2006, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figori

Actually.... Since our cars have computers, disconnecting the battery while it's running will ALWAYS kill the motor. So, that test is invalid. Just take it to AutoZone, let them hook the machine up to your car and tell you, or do like Hybrid said and take it off of the car and let them test it. That is going to be your best bet.

Also, a bad alternator will kill your battery, as well as a bad battery can kill your alternator. Kind of a viscious cycle, I know. And the lights going bright and dim is defenitely sounding like a bad voltage regulator. So. Get that thing tested, man.

um thats acutally wrong

if you unhook a battery the car will still run, the alternator is still producing power (if its good), but its also very bad to unhook the battery with the car running, since the battery acts as a filter for the voltage. Running without a batter can cause a voltage spike and fry your ecu.

MrRealityman · 06-12-2013, 02:15 PM

This has nothing to do with power generation. It's in the cooling system. The high point is where the main radiator hose connects on top at the head. You will see a brake bleeder there. You need to jack the right side of your car as far up as you can or park it on a hill or both. start the car crack the bleeder and wait for all the air to be forced out by the expanding coolant. Just dont do this when the car has been running and is already hot like I did.

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