avantgarde84

iTrader: (1)

First off, I know to some of you guys the title of this thread may sound too familiar and seems like it has been asked before hundreds of times, but trust me I have used the wonderful SEARCH button and have yielded no results to my question in specific. If there is a similar thread in the depths of this forum that I didn't dig thoroughly enough, I apologize.

Anyways, I have got a 2005 Honda Civic and I have realized that whenever I turn on the Air conditioning or when the radiator fan turns on automatically, the headlights will flicker/go dim for a few seconds before it goes back to its original brightness (or at least I think so). When I turn off the A/C, the headlights return to the brightness as when the A/C was off at the start. Obviously this occurs at night time when I turn on the headlights to drive around. Any idea what's causing this? Is it the alternator getting weaker or is it normal? I don't see it happening in other cars though.

Edit: I am running stock halogens, not HIDs.

FYI I do not have any amps or subwoofers that are eating up my battery power such that the lights go dim because of that. Electrically and electronically the car is stock. Any answers will be greatly appreciated.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yup its completely normal. weak alternator (70 amp) plus small headlight harness wires, plus using alot of accessories makes the headlight dim. hids will not dim because they use a regulated power supply (ballast) to power their bulb.

avantgarde84

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the reply gearbox. Considering what you mentioned about the weak stock alternator and thin harnesses, does this mean that the alternator is getting old and weak (and needs replacement soon) or will I still be having the same problem even if I replace the alternator with a new but identical one? I guess getting thicker harnesses would help but the trouble to get them changed would be a pain ay.

Incidentally, I do recall you having a Catz Zeta system from one of your old posts which I thought may be useful to keep the lights constantly bright since it works like a ballast in a HID system to keep power constant to the lights. Any advice on that? Thanks for your reply, greatly appreciated.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can try the catz zeta, that would fix the headlight dimming completely. its kinda a pain to wire up cause you have to cut and splice wires, and i never figured out how to make the hi beam work with it. otherwise changing the alt wont help, unless you get one with higher amps. you can upgrade the stock headlight harness, but they will still dim (it will just be a bit brighter than before under the same conditions).

kbook

Tonight when I drove on the high way, I realized my headlights + dashboard's lights were flickering all together and I drove around 70 mph and all of sudden the speedometer dropped to 60mph then went up pass 70 mph then it came back to 70mph. I am thinkin' about the alternator might reach its life soon but I am not quite sure whether it is related to my speedometer.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

could always get a free charging system check at the auto store.

kbook

I'll try that. Thanks, gearbox.

kbook

Ok a little update. Last Monday, I went to the goodyear shop because the appointment at Honda dealer was full. So, the Goodyear shop checked my alternator. He said the voltage dropped significant when turned on the A/C to high + some load so I agreed to change the alternator because I don't want my car to be dead in Detroit. : )

However, today which is Friday, after 10 miles of driving I saw a blink of the battery indication came on then it went off!!!! I saw it turned on and off about 4 or 5 times.

I was ... I thought to myself that what the heck was going on with my electrical system again!! after 400s dollars and it couldn't fix the problem. So I went straight to Goodyear shop to check. (oh it is 1 year warranty on repair so the service clerk will replace the a new rebuild alternator but he would like to make sure that the battery is good before he put another one in.

The current battery is Duralast Gold from the Autozone. I bought it last year since it has the cold crank amp more than our OE. I think OE has 500 and mine has 550. The red duralast has only 450 amp.

I drove to Autozone to check my battery and It is still good. I haven't seen the battery light comes up again but I will not trust it. I think the alternator might have problem. What do you think gearbox? I will observe its behavior again and see. I hope I don't need to buy a new battery.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

hmm its possible. ive gone thru alternators like crazy in my old car. it may be a wiring issue, make sure your grounds and power wires are tight and not corroded. our stock battery has 420cca. just check the battery voltage and dont let it drop too low. if its falling to 11v, throw a slow 1 amp charger on it to fill back up. is the engine light on? if only battery light, theres a good chance its alternator. did they give you a new one or remanufactured?

kbook

I did a little research on this forum and advance auto website. I came to conclusion that the alternator that the shop put into my civic might not be compatible with mine. When I looked up at the Advance auto for 04 civic alt. The description has a warning msg saying that this alt works conjunction with ELD so I believe the replacement one doesn't have the controller and ECU might not able to communicate with the alt and the alt might over charge or something.

Like a drama, I'll go to the shop tomorrow and ask the clerk to order one from the advance auto. : ) I'll keep you posted.

kbook

It's the remanufactured one. I went to the shop again. The service clerk wants me to change the battery because the shop has had lots of experience about the battery draw so many amp from the Alternator. I have no knowledge about that thing and since I still have my warranty on my Battery so I went to Autozone and get the new one. I will be driving this car and observing more. A person at Autozone was very nice. He checked the alternator and the previous battery. They are both fine.

I rechecked all the wire. They're all tight and right : )
so I guess I will drive and see. I will keep eyes on the ELD also. At this point, do not die in Detroit!!!


P.S. if our stock is 420cca then before I changed to Duralast Gold. Honda put the 500cca for me : )
Basically, the Duralast Red is enough for me also since the red one has 450 cca. Cool Thanks gearbox.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you really dont need that much cca, the acura rsx comes with something like a measly 340cca lol. i know some people that use the 300 cca lawn battery without issues. the bigger cca only comes into play in very cold environments or if you have stuff draining on the battery.

kbook

Gearbox, after I got the new Duralast Gold battery from Autozone, I haven't seen the battery light until today. It's weird, I will bring my car to the same place and let them install the new alternator again. Do you think the ELD will cause the battery to randomly blink?

I realized the new problem when I touch the gas pedal and release it suddenly. The engine seems to stall or something. After 5 years + warranty ended, s**t happens : )

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

all the eld does is turn the alternator on and off depending on electrical load. the battery light really only comes on if there is a charging/alternator problem. if the eld was bad, the check engine light would be on.

kbook

Thanks man, I did look up on the DIY HO Alternator upgrade thread. That person mention the same symptom after he replaced the OEM with the HO alt. I think he mentioned something about the Voltage regulator did not sync with his car or something. So I'll bring my car back to replace the alt. I hope they won't complain me about the battery again. It likes throwing a problem back and forth and leave a customer feel blank.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well tell them battery is new, so they need to change the alternator. hopefully they are actually doing it and not leaving the old one on there and lying to you.

kbook

I brought the car back to the shop in the morning. They warranted their work for 1 year. They put the new rebuilt in so I'll see what happen.

This is the different one so I'll keep this thread alive for a while. : )

P.S. Yesterday, after come off the highway, I saw the battery light and that was why I have to get it done.

After the highway, I took foot off the gas pedal quickly and the battery lit up 1-2 secs after that. This can be reproduced also.