electrical problem

[86commuter]

I have had this problem for like a year i love my car but it is tempermental sometimes. i have an 86 carb dx 5 spd and when i bring it to above 4000 rpms(rpms is not approximate but average) the battery light comes on and i notice a bog in power. i have also been blowing fuses on my headlights. well it was working fine when about 4 days ago it started to have the battery light on all the time and i was getting frustrated then and it would idle really high and i could not kick it down even after the car warmed up. now i noticed that it was less tempermental and i was able to like 80 % of the time rev past 5000 rpm and no battery light (well it is less frequent) and for shts and giggles i checked the fuse for the low beam headlight and bam it was blown. i have even taken it to a mechanic that specializes in honda and he says it doesnt do it but i get it back the next day and it does it again. i know this is long but anyone came across this problem in the past???or anyone know a solution?? any help much appreciated.

[FyreDaug]

I bet the light and loss of power is because of your alternator going.

I dont know how its related to the fuse blowings. Maybe something grounds out and causes a big load the alt cant keep up, and blows a Fuse?

After the fuse is blown does it(light) still come on at high rpms? Mine does with the volume cranked.

[86commuter]

I bet the light and loss of power is because of your alternator going.

I dont know how its related to the fuse blowings. Maybe something grounds out and causes a big load the alt cant keep up, and blows a Fuse?

After the fuse is blown does it(light) still come on at high rpms? Mine does with the volume cranked.

it does but not as much as when the fuse is good. my mechanic said the same about the alterantor. so im thinking i have a couple of problems. anyone know a good alternator for these cars. when i swapped the motor i put in a cheepy from kragen.

[FyreDaug]

Junk yard or the cheap one is all you get. Unless you pay to re-wind it higher amperage, other than that, your stuck man.

I had to change my alt, and I pulled one from a wrecker. Bitch to to put in though, you need to drop the axle and stuff.

Its just the alternator dying, you should fix it before you get stranded, it happened to me when my light was constantly on.

With my system drawing over the max 60A the alt produces, the light comes on at higher rpms, 4000+ like you said.

[Oldblueaccord]

it does but not as much as when the fuse is good. my mechanic said the same about the alterantor. so im thinking i have a couple of problems. anyone know a good alternator for these cars. when i swapped the motor i put in a cheepy from kragen.

its also possible that the voltage is spiking up maybe to 16volts. When the diodes go bad they can let the voltage run wild a little.


wp

[86commuter]

its also possible that the voltage is spiking up maybe to 16volts. When the diodes go bad they can let the voltage run wild a little.


wp

but then wouldnt it cause it to run like that, weather the headlamp fuse is blown or not?

i drove it to work this morning and i did not get the battery light on and i think i tached the most at like 4400 rpm. I think im about to just start on rewiring the headlamps and see what happens from there. imma try to step up the rpms also and see if it is still doing it.

[Oldblueaccord]

but then wouldnt it cause it to run like that, weather the headlamp fuse is blown or not?

i drove it to work this morning and i did not get the battery light on and i think i tached the most at like 4400 rpm. I think im about to just start on rewiring the headlamps and see what happens from there. imma try to step up the rpms also and see if it is still doing it.

I would buy a multi meter and take some readings and see what the voltages are before I rewire anything. Unless you know that the wires are bad or have been messed with etc. You also can get your altenator tested and any parts place while its on the car.


wp

[POS carb]

watch your dash lights at night, if they get bright in sync with the battery light flashing on then your alternator is putting out excessive voltage

the headlights should have nothing to do with your alternator unless the alt was dying and a short in the headlight finished it off or the excess volts fried it

[86commuter]

watch your dash lights at night, if they get bright in sync with the battery light flashing on then your alternator is putting out excessive voltage

the headlights should have nothing to do with your alternator unless the alt was dying and a short in the headlight finished it off or the excess volts fried it

that is what i was tryin to get at, you nailed it. the lights are brighter the fans run faster. so now what is the fix? new alt?

I would buy a multi meter and take some readings and see what the voltages are before I rewire anything. Unless you know that the wires are bad or have been messed with etc. You also can get your altenator tested and any parts place while its on the car.


wp

i used a meter a few times kinda hard tho using it on the solo. i have had problems with the headlamp wiring and the mechanic told me the same.

[86commuter]

now this morning when i was driving to work the light comes on and then my rpms shoot up to 3000-4000 and it wont kick down. i drive 20 miles and the whole way it would not stop.

[86commuter]

X

[lamontlamont]

i had the same exact problem eccept mine didn't blow fuses. my car would idle really high and i couldnt get it to go down . my alt light would come on some time flicker and then sometimes it would not come on.. i believe that when the battery voltage is low. the engine is supposed to idle faster in order to increase alt voltage to charge the battery . if the battery doesnt charge because the alt cant charge it. it just keeps idling faster. (this is just my theory) also. perhaps a low voltage also triggers some computer carb control and makes it idle fast.
Any way, it turned out that the 3 pin wire harness on my car was replaced by a previous owner and the place where the wire was twisted together was all corroded. i just replaced and soldered a new wire harness on and replaced the alt with a strauss discount auto alt which cost me $65.

You have to in fact remove the outside side of the axle in order to get the alt out. you will need a ball joint puller which is $13.99 at strauss discount auto.

i actually replaced two alts because the first time i didnt know about the corroded wire harness lead.

i believe a new alt will solve all of your problems. replace the alt and let us know what happened.

[86commuter]

imma try that. here is the kicker it doesnt do it anymore and i think i have an oil leak in the back so im thinking that the leak coated the shorting wires. i have reved it and raced it up to 6000 and still no light, but one morning i went early to work and i had to use my lights and about half way to work it was studdering so i let it idle got to the top of a hill and coasted down. i guess it charged my battery enough cuz after that there was no more studder and still no charge light.

after i swaped my motor i had to take it to a shop to rewire some things. and about two months ago i looked at his job and was pissed. alot of wiring was corroded and about to fall off so i redid some and still had a problem. The oil leak on the back side was cleaned off when i had him replace a part and it was really bad for a while with the charging light. now it is nonexistant. i will try the alt and rewire the plug and inspect the length and see if there are anybreaks.

thanks..

[POS carb]

dude that excess voltage could have fried some of your vacuum controllers and is causing that 3k-4k idle... there's no way a dead alt should raise the idle more than ~500 rpms

[86commuter]

dude that excess voltage could have fried some of your vacuum controllers and is causing that 3k-4k idle... there's no way a dead alt should raise the idle more than ~500 rpms

i see what you are saying but why has it not done it for a week straight now?

[david johnson88]

I beg to differ on taking the driveshaft out, I was able to get at everything from above and get it out as well. you just need to take the air cleaner box out and there is just enough room to squeeze the alternator right up out of there i can do it all in 35 to 40 min

[lamontlamont]

you took it out from the top? i wish i had known that before i took out an axle five times doing the change. I remember once i was able to take the alt out through the bottom with out touching the axle but i couldnt get the new one in. i dont know how that happened , it was like the magic ring trick or something. i ended up taking out the axle because i was scratchign the new alt trying to put it in.

ps, i forgot to mention, another symtom i had was the cars lights interior and head lights and blower would almost shut off in heavy rain. it was like the voltage dropped really low. low voltage starves the ignition system of power so it will shake like that.

[86commuter]

Ok there was two seperate problems i was up against. one i just fixed was the headlight problem with the fuses. i found out there was a bad ground so i ran a new ground wire and my lights work. the other problem with the bat light im thinking has something to do with the brakelight on the instrument panel because the bat light would not come on after the brake light started to stay on about a month ago. i am able to tach out and no problems.

anyone have a suggestion about the brake light on? my rear brake lights work fine.

[gxz]

there is a float in the brake fluid reservoir that turns on the brake light on the dash when the fluid is low

[3rdCoast]

i just got a very similar problem with my 87 carbed auto. tonight when i started the car it started up and idled at 2000rpms and my batt light came didnt blink just stayed on and the idle wouldnt go down. Something is leaking and is all over my alt and the hoses above it i dont know where the leak is or what is leaking. I didnt have any dim lights and just replaced the alt not too long ago and it didnt do this when my old alt died. i checked fuses and everything looks ok.......

[3rdCoast]

??????????

[3rdCoast]

i started the car today and is still reved but not as high and the battery light still stays on.........

[3rdCoast]

[3rdCoast]

anybody?..........

[Blkblurr]

What is leaking? Antifreeze or oil? Could be cause it's in the alt. causing it not to work properly. Can you measure the voltage at your battery when the engine is running? Should be around 13.6volts or higher. Could be a slipping alt belt if it's got liquid on it.