Here we go again, the battery light came on again.I had the charging system tested and there is no output from the alternator, which I replaced with a new on a month ago. Now I am gonna check my cables and see if there is something visibly wrong with them.
Any tips and pointers are sure appreciated!
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
does it have warranty...when i got my watter pump at kragen they gave me lifetime warranty but i lost my receipt...i knoe it sucks....well you should clean the battery posts...my car would not turn on and after i clean them it just started with no problem
1989 Honda Accord LX-i
B18c1 swap since 7/2011
175whp and 132tq
Redzone tuned
I did clean the battery posts and no luck. Hard to believe that my rebuilt alternator lasted only 1 month.
I'll take it out of the car and have it tested I guess.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
89 lxi i removed mine 2days ago i got it from auto zone 3/22/06. thay suck but lifetime warrenty. mine worked for awhile. then i would wake up to a dead battery. charge it up adn with in a hour of sitting the battery would be dead. . took alternater out and rplaced and problem was corrected. there was a short in the alternator that would stay open and drain battery. as far as removal i took airfilter box out and had all kind of room to get it out.about 30 min to take out and 30 to put in. auto zone stuff stinks.. clutches and alternators stink.
Yes, I purchased mine at Autozone. What pisses me off is that the only way for me to remove it is to remove the front axel. I can't do it any other way.
UPDATE: I removed the laternator and took it to Autozone, it failed the rectifier test, after just 4 weeks. It killed my battery in the process. But both were under warranty so I got a new battery and alternator.
Once I put everything in the car I will take it back to autozone and have my charging system tested, just to rule out a bad cable.
By the way, removing the front half axel to remove the alternator is not that bad at all. All you need is tie rod puller, sockets and you are set.
Last edited by 1989accordaz; 04-15-2006 at 06:59 PM.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
OK, new alternator and new battery...I thought it was OK. But I am starting to see the same problem prior to replacing my alternator.
Early this year I got a new stereo, nothing fancy, just a 99 dollar stereo. A month later I noticed that when I would press on the breake the stereo would shut down.
I am afraid that if I drive like this it's gonna kill my alternator again, my gut feeling is that when the stereo was installed, some wire or something was not done right and is shorting out.
But why would the stero shutdown when the break pedal is depressed?
Last edited by 1989accordaz; 04-16-2006 at 03:22 PM.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
If your alternator isn't charging, your car will be running off the battery and your voltage will slowly drop. Anything that pulls more power - like stepping on the brake - will cause the voltage to drop more. Below a certain point, some electronics - like your stereo - will shut off.
OK, just to eliminate the possibility of a short somewhere in the stereo installation, I disconnected the stereo. If that batt lights flikers again then I know I have a problem with the charging system, in this case with a new alt and battery then is probably a corroted wire.
UPDATE: I've been driving it for a few days now and no flickering batt light, there is a God after all.
Last edited by 1989accordaz; 04-18-2006 at 08:11 PM.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
Argh 1989accordaz, you're cursed! I was just reading this thread last night thinking to myself, "God, taking the alternator out sounds like a real pain in the ass - hope I dont end up doing that...". Sure enough, this morning while driving to the store the battery light comes on.
What was interesting is it was only on for perhaps 5 minutes before I stopped. Ran in to the store, came back out and it was off. I've been driving around all day without any issues and the light has not come back on. I'll probally run it by Checker/Autozone to have the battery and alternator tested anyhow.
But ya, thanks for jinxing me!
.. more ironic is I'm in Tucson. Guess there is something in that Tucson air taking out alternators eh?
It's all these nice weather we are having, 80 degree days are confusing the hell out of our 3geez! Not to worry, 100 degree days are coming soon and everything will be back to normal!
Good luck Gecko, hope your alt is not messing up.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
*sigh* Looks like the alternator is dead, light came on and has not gone away. Ran it by Autozone and it is no longer charging the battery, so it looks like I'm in for the same headache as you are.
Someone was saying there was a difference between the clearance in a LX vs LX-i vs DX? Looking for the easiest way to remove the alternator from a DX Hatchback. Thanks in advance...
Ping:
Anyone know if the alt can be removed without removing the driveshaft in an 88 Hatchback DX? Local shop quoted me $185 parts and labor to replace it, and frankly with as warm as it's getting here in Arizona I'm tempted to just let them do it.
.. also, if its just the regulator, does the entire alt need to be removed from the car, or can you remove the cover while its on the car and replace it? Thanks!
Yes - numerous different methods have been discussed here. On a fuel-injected car, you may be able to slip it out between the intake manifold and the brake booster/master cylinder. On a carb'd car, you can remove the left-side engine mount (make sure to get a jack under it first to take up the weight), then jack the side of the engine up sufficiently to get the clearance. Or you can drop it down and slide it across the crossmember, weasel it out over the rear engine mount, and out the right side - there is one specific angle that it will fit through there, and once you figure that out, I find it's the most efficient method (I do have to unbolt the clip that holds up the wiring bundle at the top of the block at that point).Originally Posted by TechnoGecko
It can be done; I know, I've done it. I found if I remove the top locking bolt from the alt, and take the belt off, the whole thing can swing right down on its pivot bolt, and leaves a decent amount of room to disassemble the thing and pull out the regulator and diode pack... also, if its just the regulator, does the entire alt need to be removed from the car, or can you remove the cover while its on the car and replace it? Thanks!
Do the ol' firewall trick since your carbed.
Edit- Take off the heater control cable/ switch & possible hoses. (not sure on hatchies)
Last edited by 88Accord-DX; 04-17-2006 at 09:08 PM.
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just a guess maybe a bad ground wire?
Sam
1989 Accord LX: Sold with 208k-now somewhere around 230k with new owner
Current:
2014 Elantra Sport 6MT
2000 Montero Sport 4x4 (beater, trail rig)
There is no ground wire on the alt, it grounds through its body.
The alternator is bad for sure, you can smell it cooking and the output is 0. This leads me to believe it is the regulator, but I guess the brushes and/or diodes could be bad as well.
Since someone said you can replace the regulator without replacing the entire thing I might try that and just pickup a regulator from the junkyard. Autozone wants $89 for an alternator, but after hearing how well those work I'll stay away. Considering it took me 6+ hours to replace the damm A/C clutch I'm really not looking forward to doing this.
When you say remove the left engine mount, are you talking about the passenger side or the driver side? Also, anyone in a carb'd have any luck slipping it up against the firewall and out the top? Just want to make sure I have all these questions answered BEFORE I'm under the car!
Thanks again.
Hmmm, if you can smell it that badly, I'd tend to suspect a diode or two... depending on exactly what the smell is.
A *new* regulator shouldn't cost that much... I think it cost me about CDN$25 (Lordco). Brushes ran me $4. Diode pack was around $60 IIRC. First thing to do is to pull them all out and test to see where the problem lies. Diode pack and windings are easy to test; brushes are easy to check with a quick visual inspection. If those all check out fine, the regulator is your likely culprit. Proper troubleshooting in the proper order will save a lot of cost and hassle later (this is the voice of hard-won experience!)Since someone said you can replace the regulator without replacing the entire thing I might try that and just pickup a regulator from the junkyard.
Driver's side, assuming a North American car. The one near the alternator.When you say remove the left engine mount, are you talking about the passenger side or the driver side?
Not out the top... it needs to go across and over the lower-rear engine mount and out the far side, above the starter. To get it over the mount, it needs to flip around so it's going through pulley-first; the two brackets on it are offset from the axis, make sure it's oriented so they're "up" and the forward bracket fits between the block and the mount.Also, anyone in a carb'd have any luck slipping it up against the firewall and out the top? Just want to make sure I have all these questions answered BEFORE I'm under the car!
Thanks again.
erm, if the alternator tested ok, wouldn't that mean the brushes are ok as well? Tell you one thing....if the alternator isn't charging your battery, one very simple thing to check would be the condition of your ground. So many people overlook this. If your battery or alternator ground is loose, dirty, or in bad shape, your battery will die. Pretty easy to check with a voltmeter....simply set it to continuity test (I use the toner), put one probe to the alternator ground, and the other to an actual ground, and see if the tone goes off. Repeat for the battery ground. However, even if you get a tone, I would check and make sure you have good, solid connections to unpainted ground on both.
He already said the alternator output tested 0.
And again, the alternator grounds through its body - there is no ground wire (in fact, this is universal to most alternators). If it's loose enough to have that poor a contact, it's probably flopping around with no tension on the belt anyway.
Voltage Regulator, Part# VR773 from Autozone runs $60. They dont sell the brushes or diodes however. A fully rebuild 65 amp unit from Autozone runs $110 according to their site w/ a $55 core.
$20 for the complete alternator from the Junkyard. Might be worth it just to grab one off a car in the yard and use the parts from it. Either way, I gotta pull the old one out first, and then decide what to do.
The whole process of removing it sounds like a real pain in the ass. For those of you who did it, how long did it take you?
I did it the hard way, or the only way that I had the patience to, by removing the front halfaxel. It took me... about 1 1/2 hours to remove it, maybe less. And about the same to put it back. So 4 hours max. ( including a beer break )
Good luck!
Last edited by 1989accordaz; 04-18-2006 at 08:12 PM.
You are good...but I've seen better.
1989 LX AT
300,000
I pulled the alternator out back in 02', didn't have a manual or know about this site. Took me about 30 min. to figure out how to get it up & out through the firewall. I remember taking loose the heater control on the firewall & doing some turning of the alternator to fit through all of it.
Edit- It took me roughly about 3 hours to pull it & put it back in. I had to figure out how to get it out without pulling suspension parts.
Last edited by 88Accord-DX; 04-18-2006 at 11:32 PM.
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Anyone with access to a Chilton's Labor Guide know what the book time to replace the alternator is? I just got a quote from Midas for $139 to replace the alternator parts and labor. I asked three times if that was parts and labor to make sure, considering most every other quote was $300+.
Not sure how the hell they can do it for $139, but I was just curious what the book labor rate is. If I get it in writing, I'm just going to let them screw with it for $139, and it has a 6 month warranty.
Anyone have access to one?
Me and my buddy took one out of a lx with stock carb. All we did was take off the filter and all and remove it through where the master cylinder is, it was i think 2 bolts and then the brake lines. It took about 2 hours from start to finish, its just a pain to figure out which way it has to be turned to get it out.
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