only 13V at idle without system playing, could it be new timing belt?

[loudmofo 5,000+ posts]

well when did you test it at 14.5v was it in cold weather because the heat drains voltage on hot days and will always read lower then the winter months i have seen cars charge at 14.9v stock at 10 degrees and 13.8v same car in 90 degrees.

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

I can't remember the last time i read the voltage, but considering it'll be below 12.5V at idle without anything on (system, a/c, lights, etc) I'm really concerned. I might give the dealer a try, even though I feel like they won't know what to do either :/

 

[Ali1 10+ year member]

interesting topic, im wondering whats the fix if you ever figure it out...

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

I give up, I thought I had the problem fixed but to no avail. Going to a shop to get it looked at. I'm a failure //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Carnivorous18 10+ year member]

I give up, I thought I had the problem fixed but to no avail. Going to a shop to get it looked at. I'm a failure //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Meh we all have our mysteries of car audio. Im stayin subscribed I wana know what it is once you figure it out

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

went to AAA carcare this past thursday. they couldn't find anything wrong //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

So i guess I'll just have to charge my batts every now and then. oh well, tis life until I get another vehicle

 

[Carnivorous18 10+ year member]

I still wonder if its the ELD. Change the ECU and get it programmed to bypass the ELD and see what happens? I think im eventually gona have to do that in my civic

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

I still wonder if its the ELD. Change the ECU and get it programmed to bypass the ELD and see what happens? I think im eventually gona have to do that in my civic

i've measured at the batts and amps before and read 14V so I know this is not right. the ELD will make the voltage vary, especially when braking, but never constantly keep the voltage down below 12.5V. oh well, on to the next one

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

ha haha. I **** balls. so i did my own alternator "load testing" today (started the car up, took the ground off the batt and turned on accessories). Sure enough as soon as i turned an accessory on the car would turn off. I guess the people that did a load test elsewhere didn't know what the fux they were doing. now i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to go the HO alt route or the cheap route

 

[pointblankny]

I have a 2001 civic ex and having the same problem for mths. Can't seem to figure it out. At one point while driving with everything off i would not get pass 11.9v and the battery light would start flashing. I am also running a high output alt. Please keep me posted if you figure out the prob.

 

[pointblankny]

pm me if you do. Thanks

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

the problem is the alt, refer to post #39 and i outline how i finally figured it out

 

[quins90lac 10+ year member]

Im going to have to try that. Because at idle in park mine will charge at like 14.5 but idle in drive it will only charge at 13.1 and if i have the valume up past 13 it will drop down to like 12.5 . Im thinking it could be the voltage regulator or the rectifier bridge.

 

[ahole-ic]

It's clearly a bad alt, bad alt turn on wire, or a bad ground. If he ruled out his grounds and load tested and it stayed started until he turned an accessories on, that tells you that the alternator was turned on by the turn on wire, but it wasn't charging at a high enough voltage. An alt swap out will tell you if it's the actual alt or a problem with the ecm. The ecm monitors engine temp, rpm, etc. If something is amiss, it will basically turn the alt off or it can turn its output WAY down. One of the voltage modules would probably bandaid the problem.

 

[pointblankny]

Also my check engine light comes on when the music is at high volumes. But after a while it goes of. Only started having that prob after changing to the high output alt.