Lights Flicker, Battery Light Flickers, etc.

[smitty425]

I've got an 88 CRX in which the lights have been flickering (get real bright, then dim... spiratically) and in general, all electric devices, such as the fan and wipers have been surging as well. At random times the battery light will come on for about a second and then go off. There was another guy on here that had the same problems and I tried to fix it by replacing my alternator belt, since it was old and cracking. I thought maybe there was some slippage occuring.

I put a new (rebuilt) alternator in it about a year ago and that's the only thing I can think of that would cause everything to surge or cause the battery light to come on.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Brent

[jackacc]

Test your battery and make sure your terminals are clean. Also make sure all the connections are tight on your alternator. I had a loose wire and I was experiencing similar problems.

[CZ-R]

Same exact thing happened to me a couple years ago. To make a long story short, my alternator belt was loose. Check both bolts holding your alternator in place. When I realized my belt was loose, the top bolt had broken in half, and the bottom bolt was completely gone - as in not there at all...

[smitty425]

Thanks for the help... I'll let you know if it works out.

[smitty425]

So far nothing I have checked seems to make sense. I have replaced and tightened all belts, I have had the alternator and battery checked by Autozone, all wire connections and battery terminals seem to be clean and tight... I'm not sure what else to check.

I did notice that it only starts to act up after the engine is warm or has been running for a while. So... it may be a heat related problem with the alternator?

Thanks again for your concern, help, and suggestions. I'm going to keep trying. The old honda still has life left in her at 199K!

[smitty425]

FYI...

I still suspected the alternator, so I had it checked once again at autozone. By chance, it showed an 18 volt spike at the battery which told us that the regulator was going out. The guy thought the regulator was remotely mounted which was not the case (as confirmed by the honda dealer). The regulator is in fact on the alternator and so I replaced it last evening and it is running as it should.

Hope this helps someone in the future.