2004 Acura TSX - Electrical

NICHOLAS345

MEMBER
2004 ACURA TSX
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
60 MILES

Okay I have a long explanation and a very confusing one.

I drove my car as normal, I had a single-din deck installed along with 2 sun visor TVS. About a week later all lights illumiate on my dash (with the exception of the battery light) the car begins to splutter until it shuts off. I replaced the battery thinking that this was a dead battery but I put the new battery in drove for about 45 mins with lights and a/c on. Car dash starts to freak out again and car splutters until shutting out once again. I tested the altenator and apparently it was not charging the battery, however the battery light was NEVER ON. I put in a remanufactured altenator and car battery light came on which means that the battery isnt getting charged as the altenator is not outputting any power.

I will take this to the shop but I would like some feedback as to why it is doing this and if you guys can think of ANY reason why this is happeneing please, all responses would be thankful.

Thank You!

2 Replies

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Your problem could be coming from the computer controlled of the alternator's field generation circuit-check it-

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Thursday, April 14th, 2011 AT 4:10 AM

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,754 POSTS

Yup. The only fix is to buy a different car. That is not sarcasm. It's in the vehicle's design. Ever since Chrysler first developed the AC generator, (their copyrighted term is "alternator"), for 1960 models, all systems have used system voltage to determine how much to recharge the battery. That has worked fine for 50 years, but Honda found a solution for some unknown problem. They have a computerized system that calculates the total current draw from the various loads, then it directs the generator to deliver exactly that much current. They call it "stacking" the total loads. The computer knows when the head light switch is turned on, when the brake lights are on, even the wipers and heater fan. Your aftermarket radio is not monitored so the computer doesn't include that in its calculations. Even though the generator is working, it is only producing enough current to replace what the computer knows is being used. What you're going to have to do is periodically recharge the battery with a home battery charger. You might also search for a modification for this problem. You can be sure the dealer has run into it before, and they might have a solution. Factory radios and manufacturer-approved accessories will be monitored. They have cell phone chargers that can be added without causing a problem.