1990 Honda Accord alternator

Tiny
DCOOK926
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 HONDA ACCORD
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 217,000 MILES
I am baffled by this problem hopfully someone can help. My alternator isnt charging withboth battery cables on the battery when I disconnect the ground wire from the battery the alternator works put the neg battery cable back on and it stops working. Any ideas on what to check
Saturday, December 26th, 2009 AT 9:04 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi dcook926,

I need some clarification on the problem.

What indication do you have that the alternator is not charging with battery connected?

Why do you say the alternator is charging when the battery terminals are disconnected?

Was any DVOM used to test the charging?
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Sunday, December 27th, 2009 AT 1:06 PM
Tiny
DCOOK926
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
When I connected the volt meter across the battery terminals with the engine running the meter reads about 12.5 volts when I disconected the negative terminal on the battery it read14.5 I took the alternator to be tested and they say there is nothing wrong with it
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Sunday, December 27th, 2009 AT 1:16 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
You might have a bad battery. When the battery is bad, the charging would not be accurate. Did you test if the battery is ok?
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Sunday, December 27th, 2009 AT 1:33 PM

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