robjcivic

Not sure if this should be here or on the "I.C.E. electrical" page but that seemed more directed to stereos and such.

My daughter called me this afternoon. She lives a few hours from here. She has a 2002 civic with a 1.7 vtec with a manual trans and I'm thinking about 130k miles.

She was driving along and the battery light started flickering when she would stop at a signal and and then the battery light would turn off as she would pick up speed again. Then the gauges needles all fell to the bottom pegs. I asked and she said they did not flutter or shake, they just all went down. She pulled over and checked under the hood. Her battery terminal is corroded. The dreaded blue fuzz. Obviously that needs to be dealt with.

She tried to restart and it just clicks. I driving to help her tomorrow.

I'm thinking alternator and maybe even a battery just to start fresh because she does live away from home.

My question is I've seen some threads with instrument and start issues where people have thrown out suggestions of master relay, ignition switch, battery, grounds, and so on. Nobody ever comes back on and posts what the final resolution was.

One post I read was this: "Civics have a weird harness that controls voltage from the alternator .... I cannot think of the name, but there is another part that can go bad and cause the symptoms you are having... I think it's in the fuse/relay box and is controlled by the ECU. (I may be a little bit off, have never had to personally deal with it, but have heard about it)"

That's pretty vague....

I know nobody can give me a definite answer but does this sound like it could be a simple alternator and/or battery issue. I did read one post on another site that said a new battery fixed the same issue with the instruments. They were not having the battery light come on indicating a problem with the alternator.

My daily driver is a low mileage '70 Dodge Swinger I restored myself partly because I know how complex today's computer controlled systems are in these cars. Low voltage can really mess with them and give unusual symptoms that may seem unrelated.

Any help will be appreciated. She's just out of school and working her first career job so not rolling in cash.

ezone

WIldazz guess:
Alternator crapped out and the battery ran down while driving.

Need alternator replaced, and battery needs charged up and then tested.
Make sure you get all of the alternator mounting bolts tight, else you can ruin the PCM in a hurry.

Terminal corrosion doesn't help anything, take a wire brush and maybe a $3 replacement terminal from the parts store in case the original is roached beyond use.



The thingy in the fusebox (USA cars) is the ELD (Electrical Load Detector), it's used by the PCM to regulate charging high or low based on electrical needs.

Brad Andrew

I know the ignition switch can cause similar issue and it is a common issues with 2002. I'd recommend you having your alternator load tested befor just replacing it. Might save you a few hundred dollars in the long run, or the load test will tell you definitely that it's an alternator problem.

Robert Hemphill

Eld bypass it, 820 Ohm resistor, search it online.[/U]