battery light

[worm]

I tried searching, read everything I could find and tried everything mentioned.

So here's the problem. The battery light on my gf's 91si came on(solid) a week or two ago accompanied by a little bit of smoke and an almost but not quite smell of burning rubber. The inside of the alternator could be seen to be glowing red(tiny spot).

Fast forward to today. I've the battery and alternator(with a known working one). Also checked in car and underhood fuses. Symptoms have now changed slightly. The battery light is only lit 50% intensity and goes out if the car is revved. It also goes out if I turn on the blower fan or headlights. I'm stumped at this point.

any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[RonJ]

The replacement alternator may be better than the original one but still is faulty. Also check whether the alternator belt and all alternator mounting bolts are tight.

 

[worm]

Belt tension is good. I tightened the bolts good and snug last night when I changed the alternator, inspected the belt for wear as well. The alternator i swapped in was working fine last week when it came out of the donor car....

The thing that baffles me is the battery light going off when i put some sort of load on it...blower fan, lights etc......would it make sense that I could have a bad ground somewhere and when these electronics are turned on the car is grounding out through them?

 

[RonJ]

The simplest explanation is a faulty alternator. Drive the car to an auto parts store that will test the charging system free of charge. I think the alternator is just providing suboptimal volts and amps.

 

[SourPanch]

autozone does free electricl tests. kragean might

 

[worm]

There's a partsource and canadian tire both not too far from my place. I'm thinking I'll try to drive it there tomorrow. Any idea whether they can test the alternator while its still in the car or do I have to go through the hassle of taking it out again?

 

[RonJ]

The alternator can be tested in place without removal.

 

[EG Hatch]

It sounds like the alternator is bad but it could also be his wires, ie grounds. Check to see if the bolts are tight on alternator wires, sometimes they come loose.

 

[worm]

Bolts and belt are both tight. Took care of that myself when changing the alternator. I replaced ground wires last night as they were corroded. No change. Took it into partsource today for a charging system scan. The alternator is charging properly...The partsource guy told me that most likely means I have a short somewhere.....

Me not being very good with electrical.....I have no idea where to look or even start looking

 

[RonJ]

Test 1) When the key is turned to ON(II) without starting the engine, the dash charge light should come on and stay on. Does this happen for your charge light?

Test 2) Do Test 1 again, but first unplug the alternator connector. Does the dash charge light still turn on? If it does, then you have a short in the charge light circuit.

Alternator test) Borrow a multimeter for this test. With the warm engine idling, what voltage do you measure across the two battery posts when all electrical components are off? What voltage do you measure doing the same test with the high beams, vent blower (max), and rear window defogger on?

 

[worm]

Test 1) light stays on

Alt Test) 12 something with car off, 14something with car on, 14something with all accessories on(multimeter is hard to read)

for test two....unplug the green circular clip in plug or the ring connector with the boot that gets bolted on?

 

[miguey310]

it could be the alternator or the battery it happen on 90 si too

 

[RonJ]

for test two....unplug the green circular clip in plug or the ring connector with the boot that gets bolted on?

The green circular clip in plug

 

[worm]

plugged in: light comes on
unplugged: no light

next

 

[worm]

update: got swine flu. mostly recovered. It sucked.

Back to the car. So like I said I replaced the main grounds in the engine bay. Batt to tran/body, valve cover....tried cleaning up the little white box grounds behind each headlight. The stereo install was a mess so I removed that too and separated all the messed up wires.

Car is still exhibiting the same symptoms with the dimming battery light. With one new symptom this weekend. As the gf was driving I noticed the clock light pulsing, then looked over a bit further and noticed the heat guage was maxxed out! Immediately I had her pull over and turned the blower fan heat on full......which cause the heat guage to IMMEDIATELY register a normal heat level. This happened several times afterwards on the way home. Sometimes the guage would go nuts and would sort itself out with a power accessory being turned on....other times when I would turn on an ACC the heat guage would immediately spike to overheating.

weird weird weird.

 

[RonJ]

Top off the radiator and reservoir with coolant, bleed the cooling system thoroughly, and then top the system off again.

Regarding the fluctuating lights, check that the large wire bolted to the alternator is clean and tight. If so, then I'd recommend that you install a new alternator.

 

[miguey310]

it could be the alternator or the battery it happen on 90 si too

 

[1991civicZC]

no kidding.... thats what they are fixing

i would buy a new altenator if i were you, i never liked the idea of a remanufactured one...

while you bleed the system you may get it to run a little higher at first but keep bleeding it

could some fuse cause you to experience some of those problems?

 

[vyoma]

Well i also think that the replacement order would be better than the original ones sometimes.

 

[worm]

So....here's the resolution.
Oh, and there was never a problem with the rad, the car was not overheating. The guage was just acting all wonky due to electrical issues.

Ended up that the replacement alternator was junk. Borrowed another from a friend and all the issues cleared up so I just bought a new one. Car is now good to go!

Thanks everyone for all your time, help and suggestions