Figured I'd start a new thread, as I got help in the other, but it was aimed at an ABS issue.
2003 CRV, battery is a bit under 5 years old and shows 60% life. Battery light keeps coming on, after sitting a bit. But then goes out and seems fine, once you start driving?
Today I hooked up the meter and cranked, and while in the past, if I rev'd it up, eventually it'd start charging and be fine. But today... no go, sat at 11.6V headlights off, 11.4 headlights on. Thought the alternator was bad... then the cooling fans kicked on (HVAC left in defrost mode, engine nowhere near operating temp, so no idea why it was cycling, 45F or so ambient, after a frost). And now it's sitting at 14.6V, lights on or off.
Any idea why having the cooling fans cycle on enables the alternator to operate properly? I could buy a bad ground, somewhere, but the alternator continued to sit at 14.6V after the cooling fan turned off. There's something intermittent here, but I'm not sure where to look. I watched an Eric O vid on monitoring the field line from the alternator, but I don't have a wiring diagram (let alone Eric's expertise at debug).
Am watching a vid on how to replace the alternator, boy that looks fun... and ours has some minor damage in that area, condenser is shoved into the radiator, so a bunch of stuff is tweaked, so if the alt has to come out, it'll be a yet more fun job.
2003 CRV, battery is a bit under 5 years old and shows 60% life. Battery light keeps coming on, after sitting a bit. But then goes out and seems fine, once you start driving?
Today I hooked up the meter and cranked, and while in the past, if I rev'd it up, eventually it'd start charging and be fine. But today... no go, sat at 11.6V headlights off, 11.4 headlights on. Thought the alternator was bad... then the cooling fans kicked on (HVAC left in defrost mode, engine nowhere near operating temp, so no idea why it was cycling, 45F or so ambient, after a frost). And now it's sitting at 14.6V, lights on or off.
Any idea why having the cooling fans cycle on enables the alternator to operate properly? I could buy a bad ground, somewhere, but the alternator continued to sit at 14.6V after the cooling fan turned off. There's something intermittent here, but I'm not sure where to look. I watched an Eric O vid on monitoring the field line from the alternator, but I don't have a wiring diagram (let alone Eric's expertise at debug).
Am watching a vid on how to replace the alternator, boy that looks fun... and ours has some minor damage in that area, condenser is shoved into the radiator, so a bunch of stuff is tweaked, so if the alt has to come out, it'll be a yet more fun job.