H4 problems?

[Xtracktor]

Hello, first off I would like to say this is one of the most attentive helping communities that I have ever come accross of over the internet. I have an 1988 LX-I Coupe. Got it as a present from my aunt, at 160K miles and being bought in FL (I live in Los Angeles) I try to go easy on her. Recently one of my highbeams on the Sylvania h6054's went out. So I decided to get a diamond cut housing with a set of H4's. I installed them and wow, I really liked their glow. Now the fun starts , just recently while driving with my H4's on and my radio, I hit the brake to stop at a stop light, and my gauge cluster lamp dimmed along with my radio turning off, then back on later. I thought nothing at first, but it started to get really bad when the radio kept on reseting as I hit the brake. A temporary fix was reving up my engine, then continuing to drive. Either it was the alternator or the battery that was failing, but to what? So then today I was filling up gas, then when I got back in my car, it would not start...I put it neutral, moved it back a bit, then tried again and worked. Frustrated I was determined to get more info on this matter. I read my H4 wattage, it was at 85/115. Then when I went to the sylvania site and the h6054 are rated at 35 watts. Is it just me, or am I overpowering my alternator and/or battery? I've seen people with subwoofers and amps with no problems on a 3rd gen accord. Any light in this case? Thanks alot in advance, I love this car!

[shepherd79]

there are could be two things:
1. your light bulbs are too big and you are pulling the high current, but on the other hand i have 80/100 bulbs in my car and it is fine.
2. most likely it is your alternator. take it to autozone and they will test it for you. while you there test the battery too.

[Xtracktor]

there are could be two things:
i have 80/100 bulbs in my car and it is fine.

Thanks for the reply , I am assuming you also have a stock alternator?

[smufguy]

If you have a volt meter, then u should be able to check the strength of ur alternator right in ur home. Start the car up, let it come up to the normal idling. then check the voltage on the battery terminal it should be anywhere from 14 V to 14.5V for a good alternator. check how much volts ur putting out at no load. and then turn on the headlight and radio (and see how much u are putting out) and then ask someone to hit the brakes and see how much ur putting out. IF it goes below 12.5V or let alone 12V then possibly the alt is going out.

When i took my car to the autozone, thats all they did, check the voltage and said it was fine, but again, i got a 4g alternator for the hell of it cause i did not trust my good old junkyard alternator. never had a problem since. 14.5V to 14.7V under no load and its all good.

[Xtracktor]

So if my alternator does not work, would you recommend getting a 4G alternator?

[shepherd79]

i would just stay with 3G one. if you get 4g alternator you have to buy new belt and do some modifications.

[smufguy]

I got the belt number and its just basically plug and play. The top bracket is the only issue, but with the top bolt gone, u can just hammer the bracket to meet the top of the alternator bolt hole and stick a steel or heavy duty bolt and bolt the alternator down. Simple as that, should take u the same time it takes to put in a 3g alternator. Besides u get 80 amps instead of the stock 65 amps and its only 10 bux more from autozone.

[Xtracktor]

I got the belt number and its just basically plug and play. The top bracket is the only issue, but with the top bolt gone, u can just hammer the bracket to meet the top of the alternator bolt hole and stick a steel or heavy duty bolt and bolt the alternator down. Simple as that, should take u the same time it takes to put in a 3g alternator. Besides u get 80 amps instead of the stock 65 amps and its only 10 bux more from autozone.

What if I get a custom alternator that fits the 3g and has more amperage? My mechanic says he might be able to pull that off because he knows an alternator rebuilder.

Well I took my car to autozone, but some guy had the worker checking his whole engine, I called up my mechanic and just went to him. We checked my alternator and battery with the voltmeter. Without anything except the engine it was 14.7 volts, but with the everything on, it would be at around 14.4. I would push the break and push the power windows, and it would make drops to about 13.1 volts or so. He tells me that my alternator is struggling to meet up with demands and that my battery (kragen) is not good. He also said that the volts should go up, usually. He also said that there might possibly be a short somewhere? I plan to replace my battery with a better one, the one I have is somehwhat small, and I plan to replace the alternator. Any suggestions or comments? Thanks!

[shepherd79]

you mechanic is damn wick. the voltage should always drop when you apply the load. stop using that mechanic. i wouldn't trust him if it was life or death situation.
anyway, sounds like everything is fine. but i twould still go to autozone. and i still think it is eather your battery or your alternator.

[DeathRat]

I'm running 55/100W H4's in my 88 LX......My alternator is just about shot now, as it can't keep up at all now! At first my light on the dash would just flicker once the H4's were on for over an hour. Yesterday, the light started flickering regardless of the lights were on, off or any other accessory was on as well. I'm getting a custom built 120A alternator installed by a rebuilder that makes HO Alts for stereo installations. They said the brackets would have to be custom made, no big deal, except for the fact that they need the car the whole day to accomplish this install though.

Another thing you should do is upgrade your wiring harness for the lights. If I'm not mistaken, the stock wiring harness is rated for 55W to the headlight switch. I had gotten a suggestion in another thread regarding this topic of upgrading the ground cables for the vehicle. I'm planning to upgrade the ground cables too, just for extra insurance.

[smufguy]

you can get ur stock alternator rewound to whatever amperage you want. MeanGreen alternators make an aftermarket high amp one (Talk to Bloodlust (Mike) he has one) that costs an upwards of 300 bux just for the part.

Whats obvious is that the powerful lights upon longer duration seem to over work the circuit and seems like they just cant keep up. The alternator might be a culprit too. But if u checked it with the voltmeter, then it soundslike its good. The battery on the other hand might be on its way. At autozone they test the battery to see if it holds the charge. They need some details about ur battery first, like its NCA and CCA, normal cranking amps and cold cranking amps. So do know about it before u go. and ur engine details and what u got in ur car.

If the problem persists even after fixing either the ALT or the BATT, run custom gauge wires, gauges that can hold up to the new power of the lights from and to the lights. What DeathRat mentioned is excellent

[shepherd79]

you don't need to upgrade your headlight wire harness. i had mine lights 80/100 on both accords and i never had any problems.
if you have electrical problems with your car, you need to check your alternator or your dead battery.

[nswst8]

It would make sense to replace the battery, remember that you must have at least 1/2 volt more than the object that you are charging. So if your Alt is good and putting the 14.5 out then under load your not dropping below 13 volts then I would expect the weak link is the battery.
What is the age of the battery, condition and then cables any oxidation last time you cleaned the terminals.
How often do you drive the car and is it driven for extended periods if the battery plates corrode and the elements of the battery settle to the bottom of the battery then the battery begins to hold less of a charge and fades faster.
Get a good Optima, Duralast, Diehard, Exide.
Hope this helps.
Phil

[Xtracktor]

It would make sense to replace the battery, remember that you must have at least 1/2 volt more than the object that you are charging. So if your Alt is good and putting the 14.5 out then under load your not dropping below 13 volts then I would expect the weak link is the battery.
What is the age of the battery, condition and then cables any oxidation last time you cleaned the terminals.
How often do you drive the car and is it driven for extended periods if the battery plates corrode and the elements of the battery settle to the bottom of the battery then the battery begins to hold less of a charge and fades faster.
Get a good Optima, Duralast, Diehard, Exide.
Hope this helps.
Phil

Well Thanks alot for all the info and help, my battery is a kragen battery, looks somewhat small, manufactured june 2003 and I do drive ALOT. The problem just started when I installed my H4's. With the radio off I experience no starting problems, but the gauge cluster light still dims with a push on the break or the power windows.

Last night I was looking around for faulty alternator symtoms, came across various weird things. On a range rover site, they said when the tachometer starts going krazy is the when the "stage 2" of the alternator is failing. My tachometer sometimes shows 0 rpm, sometimes just jumps, usually between 2000 rpm and zero. Not sure if this is the same in the hondas, but wonder what it means.

[HostileJava]

you don't need to upgrade your headlight wire harness. i had mine lights 80/100 on both accords and i never had any problems.
if you have electrical problems with your car, you need to check your alternator or your dead battery.

That's not true, I wiring harness that is rated for 55watts will cause more resistance then one that is rated at 100watts or whavever. The more resistance the more currect the circuit must draw to provide the proper voltage. The extra power it draws because of this resistance can be seen as heat disipating from the harness.

[HondaBoy]

i'd say thats probley a no on over powering the alternator with your lights. it wouldnt be just that. i mean i can have my headlights on, the 100 watt fog lights on, my subs bumpin and no problems with my system having low power. i did have to replace my old battery, that made a hell of a difference. if your worried about the alternator, start the car and disconnect the + battery cable. your car should die if its a bad alternator, if it stays on, then you battery is probley in need of replacement.

[DeathRat]

i'd say thats probley a no on over powering the alternator with your lights. it wouldnt be just that. i mean i can have my headlights on, the 100 watt fog lights on, my subs bumpin and no problems with my system having low power. i did have to replace my old battery, that made a hell of a difference. if your worried about the alternator, start the car and disconnect the + battery cable. your car should die if its a bad alternator, if it stays on, then you battery is probley in need of replacement.

I would have to disagree with you.
My system is running H4's. No big stereo system.
My battery is fine & tested ok.
My Alternator starts off at 14.75 volts & then drops down to 7.50 volts at times. All this started AFTER I installed the H4's too. It is my belief that my H4's have slowly overworked the alternator & now the Alternator is slowly dying.

[shepherd79]

damn, guys, i never had this kind of power. on the other hand i never used cheap light bulbs. the ones i have now i paid $80 and they are rated at 60/55watts but the light output is 125/120watt.
http://store.racinglab.com/raywhitsonh4.html
i guess i am right, you ge what you pay for.

[smufguy]

damn alex, do they actually light up the road like that?? shit if thats the case, then pretty soon i might be getting it too and thats with the H4 projector conversion now that would be hot, dont u think so?

[Xtracktor]

i'd say thats probley a no on over powering the alternator with your lights. it wouldnt be just that. i mean i can have my headlights on, the 100 watt fog lights on, my subs bumpin and no problems with my system having low power. i did have to replace my old battery, that made a hell of a difference. if your worried about the alternator, start the car and disconnect the + battery cable. your car should die if its a bad alternator, if it stays on, then you battery is probley in need of replacement.

Wow I like that, I'll probably change the battery then, just to be sure. Still though, if the H4's are on, I can touch anything thats Power in my car and the gauge cluster lights will dim. I will run that test tomorrow in my car, so if the alternator is faulty, it will make the car drop dead. Also, any info on my dying tach? Nothing to do with this whole situation? Thanks again you guys.

[HondaBoy]

i'd also say you could have other electrical problems. since you first said the dash lights dim, now you've said the tach is dying? i once had a problem with my turn signal lever switch thing. it had burned up wires in it somehow. replaced that and no problems. do you notice this only when you have the headlights on or always even when no headlights are on?

[Xtracktor]

i'd also say you could have other electrical problems. since you first said the dash lights dim, now you've said the tach is dying? i once had a problem with my turn signal lever switch thing. it had burned up wires in it somehow. replaced that and no problems. do you notice this only when you have the headlights on or always even when no headlights are on?

Oh the tach has always been this way...just out of no where drops to zero. Tomorrow I am try and check as much of the electrical system as I can, see if I can find a short or something.

[shepherd79]

yes, what you see on those picture that is exactly how they look on the road. they light up the road better than any other light bulbs i had, and i had a dozen of pairs. you name it i had it.

[DeathRat]

i'd also say you could have other electrical problems. since you first said the dash lights dim, now you've said the tach is dying? i once had a problem with my turn signal lever switch thing. it had burned up wires in it somehow. replaced that and no problems. do you notice this only when you have the headlights on or always even when no headlights are on?

I don't have ANY of these problems with my system......So therefore, I do agree with Hondaboy that "OTHER" electrical problems are probably present as well!

Not sure how "Electrical" savy you are.....But see if you can get the readings off the fuse panel itself to see how much current each circuit is pulling? Another thing you can do is have someone turn on/off components, while you check readings at the battery.

[HondaBoy]

hey Shep, have you had GE super blue bulbs? thats what i'm runnin. i'll probley go to a single filament bulb. i never need a high beam anyway, i notice.