Charge Indicator (Battery Light) still on after replacement of multi items need help

[jettadreams]

Hey guys/gals,
Im having a strange issue with my 2002 Civic Si (stock engine K20A3) that has me scratching my head. I need to get my car back on the road stat so any ideas just toss them out there.
Short Back Story
After my factory alternator failed last year I had no issues with my charging system after replacing the alternator with an autozone rebuilt unit. However I was driving to work and noticed when I got off the highway (making the car drop from above 3000 rpm to under 2000rpm my charge indicator light came on. I had seen how gross my battery ground strap had gotten that attaches to the transmission and had not got around to changing it out. I figured this was my issue, poor ground causing the battery to drain or not hold the charge it was getting. I ordered and installed a chase bays grounding kit along with the following other parts after the grounding kit did not solve the issue.

First off. My main concern is that the alternator charge (battery light) is still on after I have replaced the below items.
I have replaced the following as of today - ( I actually just got out of the garage)
- Alternator (reman autozone unit) I replaced my factory one about 20k ago with another autozone unit. So this will be my 3rd alternator
- Battery with a new unit
- Grounding cable harness, Chase bays wires, I made sure all where connected properly both to the stock body ground, and engine (on the transmission) grounding locations.

I have checked and inspected the following,
- The alternator is charging my battery while running, multimeter verified at 14 volts
- The fuse under the dash, 10A labeled ALT, was not blown but I replaced it anyway.
- All other dash lights are off, just the charge indicator is on constantly at all RPM.

If anybody has experienced this or anything like this let me know you did, or what you would do to try and solve this. Im out of options and items to check, as far as I can tell the alternator is charging and working properly. I am about to button the car back up and let it run in the garage to see if it will stay running or die on me, with the charge voltage at the battery I think it may just run with the light on.
I have read and searched lots of threads, none of them seem to have my same issues, But I did come across a thread mentioning a Multi-plex box going bad (the main fuse box in the engine bay. Im going to have to dig into that a bit more.

[Waldo129]

I had a similar problem. I hit a curb going around 15-20 mph. My whole electrical system would cut in and out, then finally out for good. My power-steering was completely out, my dash lights would flicker and every single light on my odometer was on (CEL, battery, oil, ABS EPS etc...). I had a friend of mine (local mechanic) check it out through and through and he could not find the problem...

So I replaced the battery, rebuilt the alternator and checked all my grounds. Still nothing...

Finally I got fedup and took it to my local Honda stealership. They spent 2 days on it and finally tracked down the problem. It was a relay (I want to call it a different name, but cannot remember) of some sort on the back of the alternator that fried. They swapped out the 22$ part and 360$ later I was back on the road!

My battery light is permanently on until I replace the entire alternator.

Good luck! Talk about a 3 week pain in the ass!!!

[Sucka]

im in the same boat as you! let me know if you ever get this fixed!

[jettadreams]

Alright,

So the car runs with the light still on... Everything is working just fine, battery charging, even the engine light is off. But the charge indicator just wont go out. I Will drive the car like this for the mean time.

After talking to my friend who works at the local honda dealer, just to see if he has seen this before. He has, he mentioned that I will most likely need a new or used ECU and a factory honda alternator. I guess there is a common issue with people replacing alternators with "rebuilt aftermarket units" where they may over charge the system at times causing a short in the ECU somewhere making the light come on constantly. Its strange that this did not happen over the year I had the first aftermarket alternator on, but he said maybe a combo of the bad ground and super low voltage finally made something happen. I am going to look around for a new ECU and have my buddy at honda program it for me. Maybe grab a gently used stock alternator as well.

I have my doubts about this being the true issue... since i have been a vw, mazda, and now a subaru tech and usually electrical concerns are 99% never the ECU at fault. Since this is my only lead right now Ill run it down and see what happens. Keep you guys posted. ANY other ideas are more than welcome!

[Sucka]

Alright,

So the car runs with the light still on... Everything is working just fine, battery charging, even the engine light is off. But the charge indicator just wont go out. I Will drive the car like this for the mean time.

After talking to my friend who works at the local honda dealer, just to see if he has seen this before. He has, he mentioned that I will most likely need a new or used ECU and a factory honda alternator. I guess there is a common issue with people replacing alternators with "rebuilt aftermarket units" where they may over charge the system at times causing a short in the ECU somewhere making the light come on constantly. Its strange that this did not happen over the year I had the first aftermarket alternator on, but he said maybe a combo of the bad ground and super low voltage finally made something happen. I am going to look around for a new ECU and have my buddy at honda program it for me. Maybe grab a gently used stock alternator as well.

I have my doubts about this being the true issue... since i have been a vw, mazda, and now a subaru tech and usually electrical concerns are 99% never the ECU at fault. Since this is my only lead right now Ill run it down and see what happens. Keep you guys posted. ANY other ideas are more than welcome!

Sounds about right on what your friends said I've read on other forums too.
My situation is worst than yours, I did a k24A2 swap and ran a new autozone alternator (turns out that it wasn't charging my battery and my car died on the freeway.) I got another replacement alternator from autozone and now my battery light is on too.
Even my maintenance req light is on (even when i try to reset, it still doesn't turn off.

Sighhh.... Honda's........

[jettadreams]

Sounds about right on what your friends said I've read on other forums too.
My situation is worst than yours, I did a k24A2 swap and ran a new autozone alternator (turns out that it wasn't charging my battery and my car died on the freeway.) I got another replacement alternator from autozone and now my battery light is on too.
Even my maintenance req light is on (even when i try to reset, it still doesn't turn off.

Sighhh.... Honda's........

Just a quick update, getting together a used stock ecu and a stock honda alternator has already been acquired. I have been running the car back and fourth to work, and out to dinner a few nights a week, for over a week now with no issues. Charge indicator is still on. Hopefully the ecu and alternator will solve this, Ill reply with my findings.

[Waldo129]

New alt will solve it just like a said. I know exactly what's going on, I've went through this nightmare for 3 weeks...

10K miles later and my light is still on, besides that no problems. Fug it

[jettadreams]

New alt will solve it just like a said. I know exactly what's going on, I've went through this nightmare for 3 weeks...

10K miles later and my light is still on, besides that no problems. Fug it

Waldo, you just installed a stock honda alternator and your light went out? From what my buddy told me the ecu will need replaced along with a stock honda alternator installed. I have an alternator already but have not swapped it out with my "new autozone" one yet because I didn't think it would make a difference.

[Waldo129]

No I had mine rebuilt. If I do replace the alt with an OEM then the light will go off. It's the regulator on the alt that's causing the light. I spent 90$ to have mine rebuilt and it works just fine. Not about to spend $500+ for my battery light to go off..

[jettadreams]

No I had mine rebuilt. If I do replace the alt with an OEM then the light will go off. It's the regulator on the alt that's causing the light. I spent 90$ to have mine rebuilt and it works just fine. Not about to spend $500+ for my battery light to go off..

gotcha, thanks for the insight, I'll have to give my new stock honda one a try without a an ecu change and see what happens... I was really thinking the ecu could be shorted somewhere causing the light to stay on after talking to my buddy who works for honda.

[Sucka]

Keep us updated.

[jettadreams]

Keep us updated.

Update: For those wishing to continue educating yourselves on this matter. I have replaced my "new autozone alternator" with a stock honda unit. My charge indicator light went right out. This proves that the alternator itself was at fault. Or the voltage regulator in this rebuilt unit, where the causes for my light being stuck on, not the battery grounds, or the ECU. If you encounter this issue, even a year or so after replacing your alternator with a cheap rebuilt unit, I will say chances are you just need to shell out the cash for the oem honda unit. Its worth it not having to replace or fuss with the alternator over 5 times like I have. If anybody has any questions feel free to ask.

[Sucka]

Update: For those wishing to continue educating yourselves on this matter. I have replaced my "new autozone alternator" with a stock honda unit. My charge indicator light went right out. This proves that the alternator itself was at fault. Or the voltage regulator in this rebuilt unit, where the causes for my light being stuck on, not the battery grounds, or the ECU. If you encounter this issue, even a year or so after replacing your alternator with a cheap rebuilt unit, I will say chances are you just need to shell out the cash for the oem honda unit. Its worth it not having to replace or fuss with the alternator over 5 times like I have. If anybody has any questions feel free to ask.

Damn! Thanks! What did you do with your old autozone alternator?

[jettadreams]

Damn! Thanks! What did you do with your old autozone alternator?

My Pleasure.
As for the alternator, its sitting on a shelf in my garage of no use to me. It works fine (charge wise) so autozone will only give me store credit for it, so I guess Ill just keep it...

[jettadreams]

* Another downside to going cheap in the first place...

[Waldo129]

Yep voltage regulator lol..

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