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I have had some issues with my last battery dying very easy, I thought my alternator was bad. I bought a new battery two weeks ago since my old was was no good and yesterday while driving I smell a horrible smell and look under my hood and smoke was coming off the top of the new battery. In the past couple weeks both of my low beams went out and then my high beams a few days later. Yesterday I also noticed my speedometer dropped down to zero the bounced around a bit before working like normal and I also noticed the green light around the D was off then came back on. Can bad alternator overcharge a battery? The car is a 2001 Civic EX that is completely stock

 
Rep Power: 160

I would definitely get that alternator checked out. It probably has a bad voltage regulator and is overcharging the battery. Oh, and you need a new battery again.

But I have a question, if you suspected a bad alternator to begin with, why did you just replace the battery? Any time I'm having power issues, I have both the battery and alternator checked out. Nine times out of ten it's the battery dying (summer heat in AZ is brutal on batteries), but the alternator also needs to be checked.

 
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I had a guy look at it and he said I had a loose connection. I had my timing belt and water pumped replaced a few weeks earlier, maybe it happened then

 
Rep Power: 160

Loose connection on the alternator?

 
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Yeah I think so

 
Rep Power: 160

OK, once you've got everything back together properly and a new battery, I'd definitely have that alternator checked out just in case. It may have been the loose wire, but maybe not. Best to have it checked to be sure.

 
Rep Power: 518

Make SURE the alternator mounting bolts are tight. You can ruin the PCM if they are not.