SCcivic97

-97 civic coupe EX
-105k miles
-Battery 2015 interstate
-Alternator, original i believe
-purchased, 2006 at 45k miles.
-battery voltage ~12.3
-battery + alternator idle voltage ~14.3

Car is still pretty stock except I have tuned it up recently with honda distributor/rotor and NGK plug/wires.

For a few years its has had minor intermittent electical problems but lately it has gotten much worse to the point i NEED to fix it.

Examples,
-The radio loses power and the spedometer(instrument panel) resets a split second when i hit the brake medium to hard.

-The car sometimes turns off on idle if i turn on the headlights and max out the AC blower suddenly.

-Headlights dim some when hitting brakes and night.

-cranking up the audio can also make the stereo lose power more often


I am worried this thing is going to start losing power on me at a really bad time.

So far I have tried installing a new ignition starter switch but that did not fix it.

I plan to get a new car battery and a new alternator but my current thinking is that this might improve but not fix the problem.




Anyone with experience with this type of problem?

ezone

Not sure about the rest of your descriptions, but Consider checking for the wiring problem and fix described in this tsb (PDF LINK)
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Sp...720_058687.pdf

SCcivic97

thanks for the tip, i will investigate this weekend and let you know if i see evidence of a short down there or a problem with fuse #15 or others

SCcivic97

I checked the wire hardness in the service bulletin and it all looked very secure and not touching metal in that area. I also do not have a blown #15 fuse.

I had a rebuilt alternator installed and also installed a new battery. I paid a mechanic to install the alternator because on a 97 civic it is just a pain in the *** to get to and turns out it was a pain in the *** for the mechanic.

The problem with throwing the headlights on and the car turning off at idle is gone as well as brownouts when throwing on full AC. However, now the battery light in the dashboard is on just a tinge, like ~20-30% lit which i never noticed before(and barely noticeable at daylight). The mechanic told me he has had this happen with a honda customer before and that it is most likely nothing to worry about based on his experience and based on his multimeter readings before he let me leave.

Colin42

Probably because he installed a non OEM alternator

ezone

Unplug the 4 wire connector from the alternator. Start engine. Is the charge warning light totally off now?
Yeah this.

SCcivic97

I will check this out because now I also want to get a look see at the condition of the contacts on the plug as well.