electrical issue.

[Bob Kazamakis]

so my car has been driving my nuts lately. i hate electric stuff.

after about 20-30 minutes of driving my headlights will start to dim and then go back to normal and then dimming, etc. doesnt seem to be effected by rpms at all. my battery light also goes on during this but stays on pretty much constant regardless if the headlights are bright or dim.

so far this is what i've done:
had alt. and battery tested at autozone while on car. car had 57amps at 2000rpms. battery was at 14 volts at idle.

checked and cleaned all grounds. there were 2 that were iffy and i re-located them. one was from the battery to the engine and the other was the chassis to the engine. no change.

i'm thinking its the regulator in the alternator but was wondering what you guys think; especially because a new alt. is $150

thanks,
joel

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[SRT41320]

sounds like the reg on the alt to me - but ive also seen the power sensing wire from batt. to alt. go bad...looked fine but was broken somewhere and only worked sometimes

 

[WhiteDevil]

Which car?

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

crx

 

[WhiteDevil]

I have no idea , was hoping it was one of the classics, those are easier to work on and diagnose.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

eh theirs not much under the hood of this one either. i'm going to go swap the optima from the GTP into the crx and see if it acts any differently tonight.

if thats not the case i'm just going to buy an alternator and hopefully be done with it. i'm pretty certain its the alt. but i figure i may as well try the battery first cause its free.

 

[James]

What? The CRX is a classic!
(I've owned almost every color.)

Anyway....yeah, alternator sounds shot.
Take a multimeter and test the battery, should be:
12 volts car off.
14 volts car on.
14 volts car on and headlights on.

I agree with everyone else....I bet the third check is what you're failing = regulator.

88-91 Civic/CRX alternators are pretty stout...you could always hit up a pick and pull, there's plenty of'em there and they're all identical.