Electrical, Wiring, and In Car Entertainment Electrical, Wiring and In Car Entertainment questions belong here.

Civic won't charge!!! (please help)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-11-2014
  #1  
Registered!!
Thread Starter
 
Looney Tuner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Rep Power: 0
Looney Tuner is an unknown quantity at this point
Civic won't charge!!! (please help)

OK, I have been working on this for a while. I have an OBD-1 b16 in a 1996 Civic coupe body (OBD-2 car, but used a OBD-1 to OBD-2 harness adapter. This car has run fine for 4 years but now will not charge consistently. Sometimes it charges on high output for a short while, sometimes I get no charge whatsoever, but most of the time it charges on low output so the car runs dead within a few hours, sometimes in as little as 1 hour. By high and low output I am referring to Honda's dual stage charging system. I monitor the charging and battery level with a voltmeter installed in the dashboard.

Here is what I have done:
-Changed the alternator (12 times)
-Swapped the ECU
-Removed and bypassed the ELD as outlined in other forums
-removed the harness at the alternator, supplying only 12v at the IG, still only low charge
-Cut and rerun the harness to the alt
-spliced into the plug for the alt and supplied 12v to IG, 8v to FR and 5v to C; FR and C have no output measured from the alt
-checked all alt harness wires to be continuous and free of shorts
-pulled every fuse--no shorts
-removed the relays for A/C, rear def, etc.
-checked all fuses under hood and dash, swapped alt fuse 8 times with known good fuses which show no resistance before or after swap
-checked continuilty, there is no resistance between the large white cable from the alt and the positive battery terminal
-regrounded the engine multiple locations with 4 gauge braided wire
-swapped battery twice, it is fine

I am suspicious of the alternator being remanufactured crap, but after 12 swaps you would think I would get one which performs. Honda no longer makes my alternator, but they do sell a rebuild kit for a few hundred dollars plus the large time investment of rebuilding it. This would be a shot in the dark and I am thinking this is not the issue. Lots of money and lots of work for a definite maybe...so I am looking for other ideas I may have missed...
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Honda Civic Forum
Replies
Last Post
CarStuff
Safety/Security Items - SRS, Keys, Immobilizer, airbags, ABS
6
12-06-2020 12:52 PM
vtec92
Introduce Yourself!
4
05-04-2017 03:20 AM
tylerginevan
Hybrid Engine/IMA battery system
10
04-27-2015 12:29 PM
SSMatey
Mechanical Problems/Vehicle Issues and Fix-it Forum
4
04-13-2015 06:09 PM
Gunner
Engine DIY
3
10-06-2012 12:37 PM



Quick Reply: Civic won't charge!!! (please help)



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:59 AM.