Losing Battery Voltage

NYSpeed Automotive
1

Car is a 1992 honda civic, has a vtec d-series motor in it.

Symptom: Car loses voltage over a fairly short period of time, about a few hours and its dead.

Known:

  • Battery is only a few WEEKS old. With the positive terminal disconnected, it holds a charge as it should.

  • With terminal disconnected, the car runs fine and with with plenty of incoming voltage from the alternator.

  • With terminal connected, the car is losing voltage with the car being completely turned off. I thought there may have been an issue with wires from the stereo being disconnected, so i pulled the fuse, but the problem still persists.

Within a few minutes(5 or so) it drops a few tenths of a volt, so over an hour or two, its to the point where it just wont start at all.

Any ideas?

2

Hook the test light up and start pulling fuses till it goes out

3

Why was the battery replaced?

4

never had a good battery in it.

its looking like the alternator is the culprit. with the wire disconnected from the alternator, its fine, with it on, it discharges.

5

^ Wow, thats odd… Alternator is causing a load? Hmm… If it holds a charge overnight without the alternator connected, just get a new one off ebay or a junkyard… Possibly on here…

6

werd, it is odd indeed. And the green plug isnt even connected, its just the wire that feeds the power back to battery for charging. I tried a different wire to connect from the alternator back to the fuse box too, same thing happens. Its gonna be the alternator.