Alright so ive been having issues with my car electrical system. I fully charge my battery using a home battery charger that is brand new. I get a full charge and then go to drive my car. My car will kill the battery in about 10 driving minutes. Ive tested the battery at auto zone and they say its good. Ive done the alternator test (starting the car and disconnecting the battery and seeing if the car still runs) and the car still runs. I notice the battery signal is on on my dash. Ive also been having a seperate issue of the dash spedometer and other gauges not working. Thats a seperate issue but i just thought id mention it. What could be the issue with the charging system. I dont want to have to change the alt if i dont have too, but it sorta seems like that might be the issue. Someone mentioned grounding issues, but everything seems fine on the car. Where else would I check besides the battery and my amp grounds (i dont think its amp grounds cause i still have the same issue when amp is not hooked up). Thanks a lot for any help thats out there. Itd be nice to not have to walk in the rain to work when ive got a car.

 

sometimes when alts start going bad they will work when cold or under a small load.... try to let your car run for a extended period of time and see what happens....... if theres a bad diode in the alt it lets current flow the oppisite way its supossed to... hope you get it figured out

 

Never do the disconect the battery test, it can damage the electronics in the car. The proper way to check the charging system is to measure the battery voltage with the car running. It sounds like your alternator is working a little, but not enough to keep the battery charged. The "battery" light is actually driven from the alternator and indicates that the alternator has detected a problem with itself. Therefor a new alternator will likely fix it. Of course be sure the alternator belt is tight first, it could be something that simple.

 

if the alt belt was loose it would squeal.... from what i know low voltage will trip the battery light also.....but what do i know my father who taught me alot of what i know is a certified honda mechanic and honda tech manuals tell him to disconect the battery to troubleshoot charging system problems.....

 

and you still haven't fixed. Climb out of your a$$.

 

ya NEVER i repeat NEVER unhook the battery to test the alternator.... that is the worst thing you can do!!!! cause then the alternator has to put out MAX POWER and will burn itself out VERY FAST!!!!!
just take the car to autozone or some place that does free alternator/battery checks... they simply hook up afew cables under the hood and then ya start the car up and they do thier test....

 

im not to sure but couldnt it also be the voltage regulator. On some vehicles its on the alt on some its seoperate....not to sure about hondas though

 

explain yourself... so your saying that the tiny amount of draw a civics elecrical system has is gonna freak out your regulator and force the alt to max output..... if that were true why do they make jumper cables.... there would be millions of people driving around with dead alts.....


my94civic what does your post mean.... i cant understand your grammer

 

I took my car to autozone, but even with the 5 minute drive, my battery was practicly dead. Autozone said they couldnt test the problem cause my car was pretty much dead. I explained my problem and autozone said it could have to do with the Voltage regulator like 93civicdx said or it could have to do with shorts in my ground. One thing I have noticed since i posted this; is that when i drive in gear then slam the car down into a lower gear to almost redline the car (i know not smart), i notice the battery light will turn off. Im kinda thinking maybe it does have to do with the grounding system. Where would I check if ive already checked battery ground and the ground that goes to the frame of the car from the engine block?

 

previous post is probably best left unexplained....

from what you have just said it seems to me the alt isnt producing enough power, and when you redline it, the alt will be spinning as fast as possible, thus creating enough power for the ECU to accept this as a normal level in turn the light goes off