I have the same problem. There is a little known Honda announcement/bulletin that states that the back of the alternator connector MUST be covered with dielectric grease to prevent elec. shorts. As to my alternator, I am taking it out tomorrow and having it bench tested as it refuses to put out any charge until the engine RPM reaches approx 3500-4000 then it puts out the required 14V (after that the system continues to charge regardless of the RPM).
Hey guys
That link/bulletin provided in one of the above messages is bang on. After taking the intake support I found 5 exposed wires which were rubbing/shorting out against the intake support, which generated all sorts of error codes. All it took was good quality electrical tape and corrugated plastic hose (type used to protect electrical wiring)...$5.50 in total. I found it difficult to remove the wiring harness of its bracket so I just worked on it as is...I did gain access from under the car (raise the car at least 14in to allow for working space). I insulated each affected wire individually with 0.5in piece of elec. tape then taped all the wires together and covered them with the plastic guard mentioned above and taped that over once more with elec tape. I did have to replace the alternator as the voltage reg was bad. Get this...I got another DNS alternator which I insisted on having bench tested...it was bad too. Two new DNS alternators bad out of the box!!! Stay away from their stuff. The store called up other sister stores which tested their civic DNS alternators...at least 2 other were dead. it looks like there is a bad batch of them out there. As far the alt. change goes, you don't have remove any drive line components. Instead, unbolt the alt (both bolts and then lift the alt with one hand and prop it against the fire wall. Then remove the bottom bracket and with a little bit of manual manipulation (alternator) the alt will slide out through the opening nearest to the fender....when reinstalling the alt, MAKE SURE to put dielectric grease on the back of the 3 or 4 pin connector (another Honda bulletin). replaced the fuses, reconnected the battery and drove the car for 5km....EVERYTHING WORKS GREAT (so far). Good luck
Last edited by z_lucas; 07-24-2007 at 10:10 PM.
Reason: I solved the problem