Charging system
 

Car - 99 Honda Civic with a 95 b18b1.

I finally got all the wiring on my alternator harness sodered up correctly, but when I test the battery with the car not on it shows 12.6 volts which is perfect, when I test the battery with the car on its showing 12.5 volts, if I rev it up a little bit the meter says about 12.83 volts.


I took the plug that goes into that alternator and it had a bunch of white corresion in it, I cleaned that out with a little pick and plugged it back in and it started charging at like 13ish. I checked it again today when I got home and again back down to 12ish.

The only thing I can think of is that the alternator is going out because when the wires came undone from the guy who did my swap, killed my alternator.



Also, how hard is it to reharness an engine bay? The guy who did my swap chopped ALOT of wires and hand twisted them, so I'm going back and fixing things still. I would want to use a harness from a 99 Honda Civic and just repin the connectors? I do have an obd2 to obd1 conversion harness to make the obd2 harness work.

Re: Charging system
 

that doesnt sound bad, make sure you have good grounds though

Re: Charging system
 

What you mean doesn't sound bad? It charging at 12ish volts. Most alternators charge right around 14 to 15 volts.

Re: Charging system
 

Sounds like whoever did your swap was clueless to wiring. I'd go through and check every single wire that was cut and reconnected just to make sure you dont have a short somewhere. Take it to a parts place and have the alternator tested (usually doesnt cost a thing) and if thats not the issue get ready to chase some wires.

Re: Charging system
 

Yeah I mean, I know that I'm going to be chasing wires. I'm probably going to just reharness the engine bay, because it's beyond bad. But I think that the alternator might have taken a shit when all the wiring problems occured.

I was thinking about going to go get it checked out first, but then again if something is wrong with the wiring ofcourse it's going to say its bad. Ugh what a headache lol.

Re: Charging system
 

incorrect.

You alternator is charging your battery. Not very efficiently, but it ois charging.

A new alternator and voltage regulator (they normally come as one unit) should charge your battery about 13.8v during idle.

Also, do you have a wiring diagram for your car? the wiring between the battery and the alternator is SIMPLE stuff.

Additionally, a quick test to check if your alternator is working at all is to rev up the engine to about 3K. If the voltage increases, then it is working. Might not be as efficient, but its working.

Something to consider is to have the alternator rebuilt locally. Theres a great shop thats been doing them for years, and the results are much better quality then buying a reman from autozone.

Re: Charging system
 

Gotcha, I was thinking of battery chargers. I do have a diagram for a civic and an integra. Problem being is that the plug on the alternator has different color wires from the one for an Integra or a Civic. I probably need to do some more searching. But I do know that the plug to my harness is correct, that's not whats really in question.

Like I said before, I'm more than likely going to have the engine bay reharnessed. For the simple fact that it's very poorly done, and would probably be more of a hassle to fix all the wires then to just replace the whole thing ya know?

For example; the person who did my swap instead of repinning the distributor plug, he cut and just crimped the wires together. It's the worst thing I have ever seen. And still expected me to pay him, needless to say that never happend. I've been to hell and back with this car, and I'm going to have it done right now that I have proper funds.

Thanks for your advice!

Re: Charging system
 

A good indication that your alternator isn't working is to momentarily remove the negative lead from your battery while the car is idling, If it dies out your, alt is toast.

Re: Charging system
 

I did that and the car did stay running.

The reason I made this thread is because of 2 main problems:

- When I drive and turn my lights on or my turn signal my gauge cluster lights blink.

- Sometimes when I drive the gauge cluster starts going insane, the tach will jump around, speedometer jumps around, radio cuts off and lights get dim. That's why I assumed the alternator was taking a turn for the worst.

Re: Charging system
 

Well, sounds like the dood screwed the harness all to hell. Gotta go through it with a fine tuned comb, or just get another one. Service manual would be recommended at this point, but overall sounds like an easy fix, just gotta know where to start. I'd help you out for a small fee :), but I don't have the time.