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Hello everyone. I only find myself posting this due to timing putting me in a state where I can't do the obvious test, so while I wait until I can do something I figure gathering some info would be a wise move.

Over the past few days the interior lights in my car have begun flickering a bit. I thought one of the bulbs might be going bad, then I noticed he lights illuminating the HVAC controls were also flickering, which led me to notice ALL THREE interior lgihts were flickering, not just one bulb. The dashboard and stereo lights are, as of yet, unaffected(no discernible flickering in my headlights or taillights).

Now, I of course looked this up and got pointed to battery and alternator issues. In looking up symptoms for each, I realized there's a bit of a problem in figuring out which issue I'm having... Because for a couple months now I've had periodic rough starts. I wrote them off to cold weather, but I also remembered that while most of them were mild, I did have one very, VERY hard start a few weeks back. I didn't think much of it since it was on a particularly cold night, but in hindsight I've had colder nights since with no issue.

Rough starts, in my admittedly limited experience, usually points to a dying battery. But the light flickering happens mostly while I'm driving - actually moving, particularly while accelerating, and sometimes even coming to a complete stop when the car is stationary(though usually still flickering slightly). This to my understanding points to alternator.

So I'm having what I believe to be conflicting symptoms and because of timing cannot test the battery for a few days - the auto parts stores in my area are ALL closed for the ENTIRE WEEKEND due to New Year's(yes, they did the same for Christmas last weekend), and I do not have access to a multimeter, so I have no way of testing anything until Monday... But even then, I know that if a dying battery is only just going to go, tests can give a false OK reading, so not only would I like it cleared up if I should be focusing on the battery at all, I'd also like any advice available on how to confirm the battery is OK if testing it at AutoZone(or wherever I end up doing it) says it's fine.

Thanks in advance!

 
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Try tightening the belt first

 
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Last time I ever tightened a belt that wasn't making any noise it ripped itself apart two days later. (different car, though)

Also, I can't find the tensioner. (2010 EX sedan) I seriously can't find anywhere on the internet information on how to only tighten the belt - everything's on replacing the belt.

 
Rep Power: 222

Sorry thought it was an older car. You have an automatic tensioner.
you can measure the voltage at the battery when the lights are flickering.

 
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Unexpected turn of events; When talking to a friend who lives in sight of the AutoZone and mentioning my issue, he revealed that despite their schedule saying otherwise, they are open. I suspect corporate didn't like the full weekend closure and ordered them to open. So now having access to a way to get things tested, I headed on down(funnily enough, the Advance, which I have to go past to get to the AutoZone, and the O'Reilly, which is directly across from the AutoZone, were still closed), and the result is...

Battery and alternator are both fine. On the one hand, awesome, on the other, "okay, great, what pain in the butt part is shorting out and how do I find it?"

But before that, I've heard of cases where a battery that's just starting to go bad reads as fine when tested. This car has 130K miles and is still on its original battery - how do I confirm if the battery is dying but just hasn't reached a point where tests will show it?

And in case that goes nowhere, how do I track the short?

 
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Original battery? Just change it so you don't have a dead car when winter finally shows up

 
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Winter's already here(mostly - we're only SLIGHTLY warmer than usual). Aside from the one particularly rough start, the hard starts have barely been noticeable. They seemed like nothing until I noticed the flickering.

 
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10-11 year old battery?!? Lasted a looooooong time, time to say thanks for the services

 
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That's what I was thinking, but as someone who isn't rolling in money(I'd have a 10th gen Civic if I was :P ) I gotta stretch things out as long as I can.

That being said, what brands do you all recommend for a replacement battery? I have a fair variety of options and prices - Duralast or Diehard for $160, $120 for a NAPA, OEM for $104, or an "Econocraft" brand for $70(yeah, I've pretty much already dismissed that one, just including it to make clear I've definitely looked around the parts stores for what's available out here). All of those I can pick up locally on Monday except the OEM.

 
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my batteries from auto part stores usually lives around 2-4 years, depending on how harsh the winters are. 120 sounds fair.
i use duralast or diehard (120 for the 7th gen). I use them on my mazda CX-5 too
expect around 2-4 year life though

 
Rep Power: 125

I’ve used Costco batteries almost exclusively. They’ve worked great. I think they’re partnered with Duralast but they’re cheaper if I recall correctly.

 
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Whichever has the longest replacement warranty.
or if you're looking to a save some cash some wrecking yards sell pretested used batteries that are only a couple of years old for like $40 and they come with a 3 year replacement warranty

 
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That would be the Napa. And the Costco I just looked up.

When I check Costco I get Interstate batteries with a 3-year warranty for only $100.00. Sounds good, but I can't get the website to tell me if there are any in stock at the nearest location 45 minutes away.

However, going to the nearest Costco is a big risk for me because it's almost directly next to the Microcenter - and just typing that name is making my wallet cry...

In all seriousness, it's probably not worth it to drive all the way out to ANY Costco just to save $20 on a battery with the same warranty as one I can get locally.

 
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New battery acquired and installed. No discernible trouble starting car. Flickering remains.

 
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so, there is likely some wiring issues, will need to start chasing it

 
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And I have not the skill or knowledge to do so myself or the money to pay someone to do it...

 
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do you have a friend that can do? give him a 6 pack

 
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Not for electrical, unfortunately...

 
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After checking the fuses I did another test and noticed that the daytime running lights are also flickering. The headlights and high-beams are NOT flickering, despite the latter being the same bulbs as the DRLs.

 
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ELD? I can't remember if the newer cars have one

 
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I unhooked the battery and cleaned the cables and terminals again just to be sure, and I noticed something - the connector on the positive cable is bent outward on the bottom edge. Not much, but enough that the entire bracket around the nut and bolt doesn't connect all the way down to the bottom. This tells me the old battery wasn't the original battery - it was probably replaced sometime before it was traded in. It only had 30someK miles on it when I got it three years ago, so it didn't drive much for most of it's life, it's original battery probably went flat at some point and left corrosion that caused whoever replaced it to have to use a lot of force to remove the cable.

Three years(at least) and 100K miles later I'd say it was still a good idea to replace it. Next time I bring it in for service I'll ask the dealership guys to look at it and see if it should be replaced.

In any case, I REALLY tightened down the connectors when I finished the re-check, and got no flickering at all. Unfortunately this doesn't tell me anything with 100% certainty because the flickering did occasionally go away for a while beforehand, so I'll need a couple nights of continued no flickering to be sure it's all good.

Fingers crossed.

 
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All lights except DRLs began flickering as before after mere minutes of driving.

 
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Had the dealership check everything when I had to bring it in for service. They could find no issue.

 
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OK, that is not good... Considering current situation, anyone with more skills moved out to better paying jobs, though...

 
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I'm not convinced they checked the grounding points themselves. If I knew where they were myself I might be able to check them myself, but I can't find that information anywhere.

 
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Okay, I need to ask.... Is it possible that I just coincidentally have a series of bulbs going bad(or in the case of DRLs are just a bit sensitive)? My interior dome lights are LEDs(bought from Walmart) that have been in there for a while, the HVAC lights are obviously original, and the DRLs are aftermarket LEDs(bought on Amazon) so they have their own voltage regulators. The DRLs don't always flicker when the dome lights and the HVAC lights do, and nothing else is showing any signs of flickering - even the DRL bulbs on high beams have NEVER flickered.

What are the chances I'm reading too deeply into a completely coincidental "old bulbs wearing out while your new LEDs don't like being in low power mode" situation?

 
Rep Power: 366

if you still have the original bulbs, put them on and try? (interior lights first)

 
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Cheap LEDs could definitely be part of the problem

 
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I do not have the original bulbs available so testing that without buying new bulbs is not possible.

I am testing a theory. I have a pair of voltage equalizers that I needed on a previous pair of LED lights because they would cause the DRL warning light to flicker when they were in DRL mode. The reason I am trying this is because I cannot clearly recall if the flickering was only ever happening while the DRL/high beams are on - I do most of my driving at night due to my work and spend most of that driving with the high beams on, so things gets mixed up in my head sometimes.

When I started it up after putting the equalizers in, there was no flickering. However, since the flickering wasn't a constant thing this doesn't necessarily prove it worked. I'll know after tonight.

These equalizers cause the bulbs to be at full brightness even in DRL mode, so if this doesn't change anything they're coming right out. No point in shortening the lifespan of the lights if it's not helping.

 
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Result: No effect. I am not surprised, though - this was a longshot that was only worth trying because I already had the components. If it was any of the LEDs the least likely culprit would be the newest ones.