Honda Passport electrical problems

HERB

MEMBER
HONDA PASSPORT

My 97 honda passport auto trans. Has been acting up for the last week. Yesterday it was fine but again today I start it up and the heater fan will not work and the 4 wheel drive light, the brake light and the battery light in the dash are on. When I rev the truck up to 3000 rpms, the lights turn off and the fan works fine. Or if I drive and get the truck up to speed on the freeway, everything works fine too. But when the tuck is in idle, those three lights come on and the heater fan wont work. I checked the battery connections and fuses and also noticed I had a burnt out headlight. I changed the headlight, and still the same problems. Also the dash lights are not working on the left side where it shows operating temp. Hope you can help.

1 Reply

BACKYARDMECHANIC

MECHANIC
337 POSTS

Dear Herb,
Sounds to me like you have a charging problem. Check the basics first like are the terminals clean and tight. Also check the alternator belt and make sure it is tight. Check this by trying to turn the alternator by hand. If you can turn the alternator this means the belt is either worn or loose. If you have access to a volt meter here are some test you can conduct. First check that the battery is in good condition by connecting the postive lead of the meter to the postive side of the battery, and the negtive side tothe negetive terminal. Have an assistant start the vehcile while you observe the meter. The voltage should not drop below 9 volts while cranking. If it does have the battery charged before performing any more tests. Next with the car running observe the meter. The voltage should not drop below 13.2 volts with all accesories on. Normal voltage at idle should be between 13.5-to 14.8.
Good luck :)