On-going issues with H/O Honda Civic alt is it the car or the alt???

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

I am currently on my third high output alternator in this car. Both my yellow top under the hood and xp3000 in the trunk have been tested for bad cells etc. they are each fine. There is no indication of belt slip occurring whatsoever not even silent. Big three upgrade is in place. The alt charges perfectly fine for a week or so then just stops putting out amperage as if its a regulator gone bad or rectifier bridge that's somehow over worked itself. Besides mounting it there is a run of positive to the battery from the charging stud and a one-wire charge lead that I splice into a 12v connection for the regulator to operate off of so I don't understand where the issue is coming from as it seems quite cut and dry that everything is installed and should be working properly.

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

Please guys yield any information or suggestions you may have

[shizzzon 461]

Sounds like you need a multimeter and an ammeter to start doing testing with car on and off to narrow it down.

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

I do have a multimeter no ammeter. How would I go about narrowing it down?

[frogcase2002 393]

What alt? And what audio is ran right now?

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

Singer. 275 amp does around 200 or so at idle. Got a bc2000d at one ohm

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

Computer controls have been bypassed as well due to the one wire regulator design

[Tirefryr 1,724]

Your regulator is self-exciting, so you don't need the other wire.  The cable going from alt to batt is all you need.  Is this your third alt from the same manufacturer?    If so, I suspect you have a bad cable or the manufacturer has a bad run of regulators.

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

It is a Singer alternator. How would I evaluate the status of my cable?

[Tirefryr 1,724]

So you have replaced the Singer alt 3 times with other Singer alts?  Visually check your cable and meter for resistance.  Simple corrosion on a terminal you may not be able to see and can render a cable useless.  Check, check, check, then contact Singer again.  At this point, it's either the cable or faulty components.

[civicbuild86 13]

i have a 240 amp alt from mechman with no problems...in a 2008 honda civic......sounds like either bad batch of regulators or bad wire or connection....u might want to send your alt off to another company to get rebuilt and try it

Edited December 15, 2013 by civicbuild86

[jonbearsmt 919]

do you drive fast? switch gears at 8 grand?

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

How do you check for resistance in a positive run of wire? I thought you could only get a stock built up so big and I don't drive fast that I know of. Car is an automatic btw 

[audio-neon 34]

Polarity has no affect on how you test impedance. One lead at either side of the wire and measure ohms.

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

Talked with Singer himself and have more or less resolved the issue. He is a great guy committed to customer service. Stands behind his product and then some

[shizzzon 461]

So.. I guess it's a private problem?

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

No shizzzon he said it was either due to where I had wired the regulator to or a bad regulator from the manufacturer. The stock plug input could have been bleeding or leaking voltage causing the regulator to over work itself when the car was off.

[DedicatedEnthusiast 0]

Sorry for the delayed response been workin hella hours due to the holidays