Hey all about 3 weeks ago the wifes Accord battery light was flickring and so I took it into advanced to run a check. Metter said all was good just the ghost in the machine thing (1993 with 170,000 miles) Well it died just as she rolled into work last week. So I went and took the 9 month old battery out and back to Advanced to see what was up they said yep it was dead so they recharged it. (Couldn't have the wife be stranded so we got her a RAV4 great deal couldn't pass on.)
I took it to the local shop here because now I may or may not sell it. Gas is going up so I might keep it for myself. He mettered it and said the alternator wasn't charging 100%, I noticed the alternator wire laying on top of the alt and a worn spot on the housing so I picked it up and it viola' started charging right away. So we just put some shething around it and I drove off. Well 5 minutes latter the alt light started to flicker again. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have this going on.

Any suggestions?? Is it the alt, wire both or what?? I know a new/rebuilt alt is around $90 and I'll just put in in my self. I just don't want more problems down the line.
H-

 

It really could be either. I would pull the alternator and have it bench tested to rule out the wiring.

 

An alternator brush pak is about $30. Easy to install.
unhook battery, remove wires & belt from alternator, swing Alt up, remove back cover of Alt....use a feeler gauge to hold new brushes up when installing brush pak.

 

My 87' accord is doing the same thing. I had the alternator bench tested and its good, new battery,starter and ignition switch.The results of a system check were no voltage, He said its a wiring issue but i dont know where to begin with the wiring.Any ideas??

 

Ohhh, a 3rd gen (86-89 Accord)....I like. Sorry I do like the old 3rd gen Accords.

Anyway - I hope you didn't pull the cv shaft to pull the alt......

Ok, so the alt tests good off the car.

LX/DX - carb or is this an LXI - FI? The testing is going to be different on the answer to this question. Also, do you have a volt meter?

 

You can have your whole electrical system tested at Sears for free.

That will be the easiest way to diagnose where the problem is.

 

It is a DX carburated. I dont have one but i can get one if needed. I love this car and refuse to let it die,lol.

 

I had the same problem so this may help or not. my problem was with the connector at the alternator, i cleaned the dielectric? grease off the contacts and carefully bent the contacts (female side iirc male side my help too) with a pick tool so there was more tension on the contact. since i did this i don't get the mysterious batt-light fade on and off and short lived battery. I had about 170K on the alternator when it happened now I got 207K. and at the time i took the alternator in for a bench test and tested OK or pass (not sure if it tested for amps but its all good now, knocking on wood)

 

Yea, going to need a volt meter and a bit of time.

Without one, for now you can check the plug on the alt. Also the under hood fuses and the under dash fuse. Be sure the connections on the battery are clean and tight. The belt has proper tension.

Is the Alt/Charge light coming on - flashing - comes on dim, goes away, then comes back.

This is going to sound like I'm crazy, well I am , unplug the single wire that goes to the choke coil and see if the issue goes away.

From here, the rest of the tests we are going to need to know voltage readings, test grounds.....this is where the volt meter comes in.

As I said already, I too like the 3rd gen Accords......so trust me I will help all I can.

 

the light is on constantly. I unplugged the wire to the choke coil but no luck there. battery connections are good and belt tension is good also.