1990 SI Electrical Problems

So i bought a hatchback after my 91 sedan put it's pison rod through the oilpan. I've had it for about 2 months now and the electrical has been driving me crazy. The last owner had a clifford alarm but took the brain out for some unknown reason so i have the auto-locks, alarm and imobilizer with a nest of wires going nowhere. I started noticing the lights started to dim, checked the dash and found that the battery light was pulled out, (probably so i wouldn't notice during the test drive.) pluged it back in and sure enough found my battery was discharging. After that I got a rebuilt alternator and a new battery because the old alternator had destroyed the last one. After driving around with that I ended up having to replace it because the rebuilt one was faulty also. After replacing it the second time everything seemed well for a few days. Then I started to notice at night the lights would dim cruising in low rpm or with the clutch in. The batterylight would also come on from time to time when I did it as well (but would still keep the battery charged). Yet at high rpm the lights would get very bright and the temp gauge would stop reading the normal temp and come back up when i put the clutch in. Also my civic has the mitsubishi alternator and apperntly it's common on my car. SO i'm on my third alternator and all signs are pointing to another bad alternator (voltage regulator) unless u guys have some ideas. I'll take any suggestions. :banghead:

Thanks in advance

Get an alternator from a 92-95 or 96-00 1.6 liter engine, non-Si

It's 70 amps, and isn't made by Mr. Bitchy. (Mitsubishi)

I believe it's a Nippon-Denso part... which means it's actually worth a damn.

maybe there is a hot wire grounding out some where in the nest of wires you speak of. also check your grounds and batery cables, a bad ground can cause some wierd shit to happen

After that many alternators, I would suspect something else. Take care of that nest of wires and check all your grounds and 12v wires, make sure nothing is shorting out.

As far as the Mitisibishi(Mitsuba, I think that is another one of theirs), they make things for just about every car, they make just about anything you can think....hell my TV/monitor is Mitsibishi. they make electronics and such much better than they do cars....even though I will change oil on a Mitsibishi over any other make any day.

I'll take a 4G63 (and T) over alot of other engines too... they actually did something right on that one. the 6G72 (including the TT) wasn't a crowned achievement though... Nor were most of the cars they came in.

So the concensious is a new alternator? Would those newer ones fit the mounting brackets the same? If it were the wiring wouldn't it just blow a fuse eventually? I've gone under the hood and the wiring harness and moved wiring around and it didn't make a diffrence to the voltage.

The only thing that may not work correctly for the newer alternator is your wiring clip... you might need to change it, but I'm not positive on that... it will be pretty self-explanatory, the wires will all be the same colors.

I didn't see a "concensious" on it since I said it probably something other than your alternator if you have replaced it that many times already...something is causing them to go out and until you find out what it is, you chance blowing another one. But thats your choice.

Wiggling wires won't always tell you anything, other than you have wires. You can have a short somewhere and not blow a fuse.

Installing one off a newer model engine won't do anything, other than cause you to mess with more wiring...which could be the issue here. I know a D series alternator will fit a B series engine, and I can only assume the same can be said in reverse. Only difference is the top mounting, on one the threads are on the alternator while the other requires a nut on the bolt....and one is mounted on one side of the bracket and one is on the other side of the bracket.

Firstly, I meant get a newer D-series alternator.

Secondly, Tony is right about two things

There was no CONSENSUS (sorry, big fan of literacy...)
You NEED to figure out why they're going bad.Buying a newer, higher powered alternator was merely a suggestion to help out with lights dimming, etc.

That whole mess of wiring under your dash NEEDS to come out... you can't properly diagnose the issue as long as you don't know what was connected/disconnected/fucked/raped/molested/tapped into.

There's your consensus... fix your problem, don't band-aid it.

Yes I understand i need to get that wiring outa there but the first alternator was load tested and it was dead from when i first got the car. The second (first refurbished one) was also load tested after I had installed it and it wasn't producing a charge from the start either. Went back got the third one in and it IS charging my battery and has been for 3 weeks now yet those problems still persist. (over and discharging)

Where would be the best place to take the car to get rid of that usless wiring? Sorry I just guess I'm looking for that quick fix but electrical problems are never that easy.:runaround:

It's not going to be an easy fix, most likely... wiring almost never is.

You need to decide if you want to save money and do the work yourself, or if you want to pay someone else to do it, or both.

Most places that sell stereos and such will be able to remove the bad installation of the security system... also, the dealer might do it... other than that, look for an electrical specialist in the auto field in your area... the only one I trust locally is about 1hr away, and the guy is awesome.

Thank you for the spelling correction, I was too lazy to think about how to correctly spell it because I knew Mozilla wasn't giving me the correct spellings either(I have been messing with Air Craft Remover all day is why my brain isn't functioning).

Well the first 2 alternators were in your car before they were tested, so this proves nothing other than something is causing them to go bad. The 3rd one still isn't functioning correctly, so I still say there is a problem somewhere else.

Take your car somewhere(audio shops like Dropzone suggested) and get them to fix the nest of wires. And after that is fixed, then determine if your alternator is bad and change it out if its needed.

When you get that mass of wires taken care of, ask the person doing the work if they can take a quick gander and check for things that appear odd or out of place... this is the easiest way to tell if something has been modified in a way that might compromise operation of something else.

Autozone will test your alternator and starter and battery... but they can't correctly diagnose problems, they can only tell you what the symptoms are.

Like, for instance... they can tell you that your alternator isn't charging properly. They can't tell you if it's because the alternator's stator isn't correctly wired. In fact, they'll tell you it's because the alternator is bad, almost exclusively.

They can tell you that your battery has weak voltage... or a fast drain... they won't tell you that it's because you also have a wire short. They'll tell you it means you have a bad battery, almost exclusively.

They can tell you that your started has a "dead spot" in it. This is bullshit. Electric motors NEVER have dead spots. There is no such beast in the world. What actually happens here, is that the epoxy on the winding cracks and allows direct current flow between the winding and the stator inside the motor, which will not allow it to turn. This will only happen when the motor is hot, and in a certain range of motion. This will not happen if it's already rotating. Autozone will tell you of a "dead spot". Sometimes, they'll tell you that it needs replaced, sometimes, they'll get you to buy a new solenoid first, again, almost exclusively.

The same applies for Autozone, Advance, Checker, Kragen, Sears Auto Center, Kmart Auto Center (Same as sears, they own it.) Fisher, Napa, and just about any other place that tests using the portable tester. Go to the dealer. They can help you out alot.

It's ALWAYS a good idea to get to know someone at your local dealership anyway, preferably either a manager or a service technician, because alot of times, they'll help you off the books. I have a few friends that help out when I need it.

Hey after looking around today i noticed i can't find a ground on my thermostat housing. Could this be the problem with the temp gauge going crazy or maybe more?

Yes.