Why is my battery losing power?

Asked by YreVan Jul 14, 2020 at 12:14 AM about the 2003 Honda Civic Coupe Si Hatchback

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

So I've recently bought a used car from a dealership. The
car is an 03' Honda Civic Si, and it has 225000 miles on it.
Everything works great, however after driving a constant
hour or so the battery light will come on. I've had several
people look at it, two auto store clerks, my original dealer,
and a mechanic. Every one of them has tested the
alternator and the battery and both check out fine. The
original auto clerk told me that if I replaced my alternator
that I would probably have the same problem. I recently
bought an FM transmitter that shows the volts of the
battery. Recently after about 60 miles of consistent driving I
noticed after my battery light came on that the voltage was
staying at a constant 12 volts. It had remained at 14 the
entire drive until all of a sudden something causes it to
drop. What is strange to me is if I go out and start it now,
the car starts and it remains at 12v as if it's being charged.
What could knock the volts down so low? Why wouldn't the
alternator charge it back up? I originally thought my AC was
doing it, but the last two times it has happened has not
been air related.

1 Answer

3,765

I've understood that for a 12 volt system the alt will recharge at 13.1 BUT I don't know Honda of any y m m all too well. But i'm sure it's not too different from any other system of liquid battery. Keep terminals clean and NEVER put tap water in your battery cell, always distilled water. you could have a bad apple, it happens on occasion. Unfortunately, I feel that the best way to deal with this is buy a reader from the parts store. It will have about 5 different selections on it. Stay on top of the game ( ask a clerk to help you understand and operate the device). good luck

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