91 Integra - Electrical problem - Help

Over the last few weeks I could tell my car was turning over sluggishly
when starting......like when battery is dying.... Then 3 times the last
few days, after cranking my car, my radio had lost power...preset
channels gone, clock not set, but the interior clock in my car had not
reset. Today after sluggishly cranking the car and driving it, I cut it
off upon returning home and car would not start. Lights, horn, interior
lights all worked fine, starter would not engage....just the fast rat
tat tat of when turning over. I connected jumper cables to my car and
car started fine, but would not restart without jumper cables attached.
Therefore, I assumed a bad/dead battery.....not enough juice to turn
over motor.

I replaced the battery, the car starts just fine now. However, now my
battery light comes on when idling and from 800-1800 rpm's. The engine
now revs up and down by itself from 800-1800 rpm's and battery light
dims and brightens with rev'ing of the engine. Once I increase rpm's
above 1800 rpm's, the battery light goes off and all seems normal.

What's my problem.....??? I suspect the alternator is in process of dying.

HELP!!!

Thanks.

"B.Creech" wrote in


> Over the last few weeks I could tell my car was turning over
> sluggishly when starting......like when battery is dying.... Then 3
> times the last few days, after cranking my car, my radio had lost
> power...preset channels gone, clock not set, but the interior clock in
> my car had not reset. Today after sluggishly cranking the car and
> driving it, I cut it off upon returning home and car would not start.
> Lights, horn, interior lights all worked fine, starter would not
> engage....just the fast rat tat tat of when turning over. I connected
> jumper cables to my car and car started fine, but would not restart
> without jumper cables attached. Therefore, I assumed a bad/dead
> battery.....not enough juice to turn over motor.
>
> I replaced the battery, the car starts just fine now. However, now my
> battery light comes on when idling and from 800-1800 rpm's. The
> engine now revs up and down by itself from 800-1800 rpm's and battery
> light dims and brightens with rev'ing of the engine. Once I increase
> rpm's above 1800 rpm's, the battery light goes off and all seems
> normal.
>
> What's my problem.....??? I suspect the alternator is in process of
> dying.
>



Right now it does sound like that.

Connect a multimeter between battery + and -. When the battery light
comes on, is there a drop in voltage? You should get around 14V from
idle. If you get closer to 12V (at any time with engine running), then
there's a problem of some sort.

You may observe a no-charge situation when the light is on (which would
be a dropdown to battery voltage when the light is on). However, if the
regulator has gone bad and the alternator is charging but putting out
too little voltage all the time, you'll get the problems described.


--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/