HELP: bat light coming on

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

Bat light coming on.........................Batman, du da du da du da du da, Batman!

lol, i realized that after my post.

yeah its a problem. im batman and im trying to have a romantic evening with my wife and smash some box but that **** bat light keeps coming on!!

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

it may be the ECU or the cars computer that is throwing the batt light to flicker cause of the high amperage or the low amperage the alt does.

is there any way to find out?

aside from the light, there really arent any issues so to speak. one time when i had been highway driving for a couple hours, my car like stalled then immediatly started back up. this happened twice in the same trip when i was doing like 90 on the PA turnpike. oh, i do have some dimming with high bass songs. its nothing major, but i figure given my 200a alt + YT battery + big 3, i shouldnt have ANY dimming even with my M2D2.

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

is there any way to find out?
aside from the light, there really arent any issues so to speak. one time when i had been highway driving for a couple hours, my car like stalled then immediatly started back up. this happened twice in the same trip when i was doing like 90 on the PA turnpike. oh, i do have some dimming with high bass songs. its nothing major, but i figure given my 200a alt + YT battery + big 3, i shouldnt have ANY dimming even with my M2D2.

you most likely aren't even seeing the 200amps that the alt is supposed to produce. i'm not sure about the accords but you may have the same ECU situation that i have with my civic.

get yourself a little voltage meter. like a stinger one. or use a DMM w/e, hook it up to your batt and a ground then go driving around and monitor your voltage, i'm pretty sure your voltage stays around 12v 75% of the time while you are driving or w/e with your car on.

newer model hondas are POS when it comes to electrical.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

you are on the right track with the ECU it controls the output voltage on the alternator, they make a module to bypass it. best bet if you have room is do a direct connection with your ho alt as a second alt to charge your bats and run the system. leave the stock alt in to run the car.

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

you are on the right track with the ECU it controls the output voltage on the alternator, they make a module to bypass it. best bet if you have room is do a direct connection with your ho alt as a second alt to charge your bats and run the system. leave the stock alt in to run the car.

honda engine bays are quite compact so it's highly doubtfull he'll have the space to run 2 alts w/o having to remove his A/C or power sterring.

this module you speak of, link?

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

you most likely aren't even seeing the 200amps that the alt is supposed to produce. i'm not sure about the accords but you may have the same ECU situation that i have with my civic.get yourself a little voltage meter. like a stinger one. or use a DMM w/e, hook it up to your batt and a ground then go driving around and monitor your voltage, i'm pretty sure your voltage stays around 12v 75% of the time while you are driving or w/e with your car on.

newer model hondas are POS when it comes to electrical.

the issue with that is that the light really never comes on at idle, just while driving.

but i think ive fixed it anyways. i went back to autozone and they were right, the YT IS bad. so i went home and re-grounded the battery. i drove it a few miles afterwards and the light never came on, whereas normally it would have came on 10-20 times in that length of drive. the ground connection looked and felt solid and it wasnt too long ago that i put it in....guess you can never be too sure unless you rip it out and retry lol

thanx for the help, ill be back if it acts up again.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

you are on the right track with the ECU it controls the output voltage on the alternator, they make a module to bypass it. best bet if you have room is do a direct connection with your ho alt as a second alt to charge your bats and run the system. leave the stock alt in to run the car.

theres NO WAY i got room for a second alt lol well maybe if i took out the AC or something (f*ck that). i got a 3.0L V6 stuffed into that sexy car, aint no more room //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

well the problems back :sigh:

it was all good that night, but the next morning the shit started coming on again. unfortunately that morning i was leaving for VT so i didnt have any time to look at it. perhaps tomorrow ill try disconnecting the power wire at the battery and see if it stops.

also, i have an electrical issue with my power windows. whenever it rains and my windows cracked, rain literally pours into my car cause of the accords crappy design :? anyways, water inevitably got on the power window switches. and now the drivers side switch doesnt always work. actually, i think it sometimes gets stuck in the up position rather than simply not work. my reasoning for this is because when i start my car and the windows are down, the drivers side sometimes automatically roles up. and that would also account for me not being able to roll it down at times considering the upward and downward actions simultaneously would cancel out.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

bump

 

[DC_Power_Rob 10+ year member]

I will try and shed some light on this issue... Your Accord like most late model vehicles the battery light is turned on/off by the PCM in conjunction with the alternator.. If the PCM isnt seeing what it wants from the alternator, it turns the light on.. Your Accord also runs a Delphi alternator, not a Denso alternator and that alternator was ONLY used in '03..

If the battery light is on there is either 1) There is a hard fault with the alternator, 2) the wrong regulator is in the alternator and when the ECM is trying to put the alternator to "sleep" by grounding the "C" terminal it's not responding and its turning the light on (common on aftermarket regulators), 3) System voltage is too low and the regulator is displaying a fault by turning the light on, or 4) The PCM is seeing something out of ordinary in the "F" terminal output and is turning on the light..

The best way to verify if its the alternator or the car is to have the alternator tested independently to verify the indicator light function of the regulator is functioning correctly. But even then, due to the alternator being a one year only production, it doesn't mean that its the "right" regulator for the car, just that it's working correctly..

My best guess would be that the alternator has an aftermarket regulator in it, and the PCM just doesn't like it which was VERY common with the Delphi alternators.. Rob

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

This problem didn't start right away. I had the alt in for a few months before the issue started. Does that help any?

as for 3) the voltage is good.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

Well i finially got around to pulling the ANL fuse today...bat light still comes on :/ I guess thats better than having to pull out all that 0awg and start over though lol. so pretty much the only possibilities now (as i see it) are the alt-->bat (+) wire and the alt/ecu. well i can see every inch of the alt-->bat (+) wire and its flawless so it cant be that. so that just leaves my alt. im still a bit confused about this ecu thing though. is it a PROBLEM or is everything cool ad its just the ecu doesnt like the alt so its red flagging it? i find it strange though that this alt worked fine for a couple months without doing this. also i had an identicle one in before that for like 4-6 months with no issues (i replaced it cause it squeeked). i REALLY dont want to pull this d*mn alt a 4th time, but if its a problem i have no choice. whats your take on it?

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

any1?

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

bump

 

[AlterEgo99 5,000+ posts]

honda engine bays are quite compact so it's highly doubtfull he'll have the space to run 2 alts w/o having to remove his A/C or power sterring.
this module you speak of, link?

http://www.missinglinkaudio.com/