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alternator trouble. again!

mattlee

mattlee

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Location
leicestershire
Car
Civic 2.2 i-ctdi
After being sent a recon alternator I have had it fitted but now my lights get brighter with revs and dim when the pedal is let off....

Any ideas?

getting a bit fed up of these alternators tbh. This is my second one in 12 months now. The first being sent with a faulty clutch/pulley....
 
regulator does sound dodgy...

surely the place your getting the alternators from has a warranty?
 
hi guys... the person im getting them from is alternatorman on ebay. the first one i bought as my pulley/clutch was making a right noise. it was a px for my old unit and £125 for a recon unit. i had the recon on for about 9 months then that started to make the same noise but worse.... i got in touch and a new pulley was sent out foc. i went to get it fitted but the pulley didnt look the same as the other so the mechanic said he didnt want to take the unit out for it not to fit and have to put the old noisy one back on. so again i contacted alternatorman and it was arranged to have another recon unit sent out but this time with a new pulley fitted. i had this fitted and now my interior lights are throbbing/glowing if that makes sense while the engine is ticking over. as i add revs it stays as it should but as soon as the accelerator pedal is released and the revs drop its throbbing again. ive checked my exterior lights and these seem to be doing the same.

the alternators come with 12 months guarantee so he cant really complain but i get the impression hes getting annoyed now.... this im not bothered about tbh i just want a recon alternator that works as it should. it seems he is not doing a full recon and just changing certain parts hoping they last the 12 months.... whats really getting on my t1ts is the fact that ive already had the alternator replaced twice now which wasnt free..... ive again emailed him and explained whats happening but he says he has never come across this before!!! always the case with me it seems!!!!!!!!!!!

i still have the old recon unit with the dodgy pulley and the new pulley and obviously have the new recon unit on my car at the minute. should i try and get the pulley fitted onto the older one and refit? as this seemed to be ok other than the noise coming from the pulley....

i wont be buying anything from this guy ( alternatorman ) again either i will add
 
Hmmm, must be vey frustrating. Will make sure I don't buy from this guy either.
 
regulator is built in.

It sounds to me like one of the windings has gone, or part of the rectifier (it's 3-phase, so 3 windings and a 6-diode rectifier).

Why not take the pulley off the "recon" alternator presently on the car and then fit it to the previous "recon" alternator (note the use of quotes on recon LOL)
 
get your battery checked as a bad one will kill your alternator if it has to keep charging it.
im not familiar with the seventh gen accord regarding the tensioner for the alternator,id check and see if you have to much tension on it.

hope you find the problem
smile.gif
 
the alternator does not always charge in these cars, I would check the health of your battery first.

mine on idle with the interior light on, if I blip the throttle it brightens up then dims a little- this is normal.
 
the battery is a brand new Bosch purchased earlier this year so i have no doubt that its the battery.

i never had dimming lights before Salim so maybe yours is also on its way out....

ive now got a recon alternator which was fine except the pulley, a brand new pulley and the faulty recon unit thats on my car.....

im going to have to get the new pulley on the old recon unit and swap the alternators over AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3rd time lucky i guess. i may as well got a new one from Honda at this rate as taking the units on and off is costing me a small fortune :(
 
+1 What the others said - if the drive belt was slipping then the PSP would be making funny noise too. So I also reckon it's the alternator also. Is the lights dimming only when the A/C is on? If you turn is off does it do it?
 
they are glowing with revs and get brighter the more revs given. it also feels like the car is pulsing when idling and the lights dim/glow with every pulse. the drive belt was replaced about 2 years ago so should still be good for a while and there is no slipping from it either. 100% the alternator as it only started doing it as soon as the new recon unit was fitted.
 
cheers Adam but if i put the new pulley on the older recon unit them ill be fine, i hope....

its just becoming a pain in the ar5e having to keep paying to have the alternator swapped over and over :(
 
right so the saga continues im affraid....

today on the way to work my VSA light started to flash on and off randomly... i also saw the brake warning light at least once and when i stopped to pick someone up the battery light came of for a second or two.

could all of this be down to this alternator? im hopefully getting it swapped over again this weekend and dont think i can handle any other issues right now :(
 
Adam i have no idea tbh. it just seems weird that its all started after the newer recon alternator had been fitted. ive never had anything like this before. im really hoping that it is down to the unit and that it will all be sorted once swapped over agin, i guess i wont know until thats done which will hopefully be the weekend.

im really starting to fall out with this car and just after ive had the oil leak finally resolved (i hope, so far so good) i thought i would be trouble free for a bit longer than a day......
 
I think you need to check your earths are good then.

check:
battery to chassis
engine to chassis
alternator to chassis.

any of those 3 especially the last could be your culprit.

poor earths are commonly missed with everyone looking at power in... when they should observe the return path
 
ill give it a look over tomorrow, fingers crossed its this simple....

the battery and engine earth are very obvious is the alternator visible or do i need to get hunting??????????
 
mattlee said:
right so the saga continues im affraid....

today on the way to work my VSA light started to flash on and off randomly... i also saw the brake warning light at least once and when i stopped to pick someone up the battery light came of for a second or two.

could all of this be down to this alternator? im hopefully getting it swapped over again this weekend and dont think i can handle any other issues right now :(
Click to expand...


This does sound like charging issue, maybe you should get it checked by a auto electrician. Check for voltage on idle and under load. As others have suggested check earth points aswell as battery drain.

Bosch batterys are good but have been known to go faulty aswell, has it been drained of charge since owning the battery for any reason.

Your symptoms don't sound normal, what I explained earlier is very slight. On idle the alternator ramps the charge down, and back up under load. It's hardly noticeable, but definately a characteristic of the smart type of alternator we have.
 
Simple test to see if it alternator is not 100%, that includes the regulator inside.

Start the car let it idle, open the bonnet and disconnect the battery. A healthy alternator will allow the engine to keep running, an alternator thats not 100% the engine will cut out instantly after the battery is disconnected.

Ive just had the alternator go on my 4th gen recently, its all fresh in my mind, ive also had an alternator arrive in the post that is not right, so im with you on that pain.
 
Salim said:
This does sound like charging issue, maybe you should get it checked by a auto electrician. Check for voltage on idle and under load. As others have suggested check earth points aswell as battery drain.

Bosch batterys are good but have been known to go faulty aswell, has it been drained of charge since owning the battery for any reason.

Your symptoms don't sound normal, what I explained earlier is very slight. On idle the alternator ramps the charge down, and back up under load. It's hardly noticeable, but definately a characteristic of the smart type of alternator we have.
Click to expand...

the battery has never been drained since ive had it and has been very good since i fitted it.
 
today the VSA and handbrake light were joined in their flashing routine by the ABS and airbag warning lights...... :(

if i take the car out of gear and coast along i get no flashy lights and when im sat at lights/roundabouts etc they all stop flashing and stay off. as soon as i drive off they start their little routine again. its mainly the VSA on and off but now and then the handbrake, ABS and even less often the airbag light appears!!!!!! when i do stop the battery light comes on and then goes off as soon as i start to move...

i had a friend take a quick video this morning while i was driving to show you guys whats happening, i dont think the ABS or airbag light comes on during the video but at least you can see what i mean.

http://s675.photobucket.com/user/mattlee/media/Honda%20Accord/MOV_0617_zpsa5258999.mp4.html
 
Cliffordski said:
Still sounds like it could be the alternator. Have you tried 93 accord's test?
Click to expand...


ive just been out and tried it and the car stops/cuts out immediately after i remove the battery lead......

so if this test is correct then the alternator is no good for a start. ive checked the earths and they are fine and clean and tight.

fingers crossed when the alternator is changed again it solves it then..... could it have done any other damage to the electrics at all?

after all this hassle ive been through do you think i should get some kind of refund from alternatorman? ive had to get the alternator swapped over 3 times now and change the pulley from one to another to make 1 good alternator out of 2..... probably wouldnt have been much more expensive to get a brand new one from Honda after paying 3 times.......
 
Yeah alternator isnt working right then. So whats happening there is the power for running the engine and auxiliary is coming from the battery, the alternator isnt putting any or enough power back in the system.

To confirm that its not other wiring issues, drop a multimeter on the battery terminals and it should read 13-14v. Wack you lights on, and it should load up, and the Volts will bleeds down.

How far have you travelled recently in 1 go? I managed to do a 50min journey (i didnt know at the time) just on battery, It was only when the dials stopped working i realised somethings wrong! It seems you can run on 6v, any lower the engine starts reducing in power, although you might be able to go longer with the diesel (no spark plugs)
 
it started doing this yesterday on the way to work which is 15 miles each way, so ive done 4 x 15 mile drives with it like this which takes about 20 minutes each way. ive not driven it for any other reasons as i wasnt sure if its damaging anything else....

hopefully after work tomorrow the only trip i need to do in it is to my mates who is an ex Honda technician. hes going to fit the pulley i was sent onto the 1st recon alternator as this seemed fine other than the noisey pulley/clutch. hopefully he can make 1 decent unit from the 2 ive been sent.

i didnt realise you could just buy the pulley from Honda for £80 until last week... would have been cheaper and less stressful to have gone down this route and keep my original alternator!!!!
 
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