Alternator Issues!!

The alternator in my Concerto started playing up a while ago.

I got a new one, plugged it in, but now I keep either blowing the alternator solenoid valve (No.14 fuse, 10A), or blow out the battery warning light.

When the fuse blows, which happens every few starts, the car doesn't start at until until you replace the fuse.

When the dash lamp blows, the alternator doesn't charge, and I then have to proceed to remove the entire cluster to replace one damn light.

I tried using a 20A fuse once, to see if it made a difference, all it ended up doing was cause the warning light to blow non-stop instead of the fuse.

How the hell can I fix this? Atm I've had to resort to leaving the blown globe in, charging my battery every night, and driving as short as possible, as 5-10 starts of the car will leave the battery dead.

my guess would be the voltage regulator inside the alternator.

Is it the same alternator(part number) ? Are the pins in the same spot ?

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Originally Posted by ericl33

my guess would be the voltage regulator inside the alternator.

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Thats what I thought was wrong with the old one.

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Originally Posted by RIHIA

Is it the same alternator(part number) ? Are the pins in the same spot ?

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Different part number, with different pins, however I have matched the old clip to the new alternator plug. Could this be the cause of my issue?

have you double checked you wired everything correctly? the correct wire function to the correct pin?

is it possible to swap the voltage regulator over from the old alt? can't see why they would be different but something is definitely not right

when you swapped the plug on the alternator over did you notice any difference (besides the number of pins?) how did the plug/clip wire into the alternator?

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Originally Posted by markismaximus

have you double checked you wired everything correctly? the correct wire function to the correct pin?

is it possible to swap the voltage regulator over from the old alt? can't see why they would be different but something is definitely not right

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I've tripled checked the connections, and had three other people check them. Definitely have them around the right way.

I did try putting the old reg on the new alt, but that caused the battery light to stay on, hence the reason I was thinking it may be the regulator. The regulator can't be swapped from the plug (curse Honda/Nippo Densen and their internal voltage regulators)

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Originally Posted by markismaximus

when you swapped the plug on the alternator over did you notice any difference (besides the number of pins?) how did the plug/clip wire into the alternator?

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The plug/clip isn't wired into the alternator, it is simply screwed down under the brusher unit.

hold up, trying to understand this... did you swap the dodgy regulator and plug onto the new alt and that's how you are blowing fuses?

or did you modify the plug on your wiring harness?

what combinations have you tried?

example,

* concerto alternator complete

* civic alternator with concerto voltage regulator

* civic alternator complete.....

and so on...

I haven't modified my wiring harness, and I really want to avoid doing that.

I've tried:

Concerto alt (complete)

civic alt (complete)

civic alt with concerto volt reg

concerto alt with civic volt reg

concerto main assembly with civic rotor (?) and slip rings, concerto volt reg

civic main assembly with concerto rotor (?) and slip rings, concerto volt reg

both alts (complete) with new brush unit

concerto alt with civic diodes and concerto voltage reg

civic alt with concerto diodes and concerto volt reg

I'm no longer blowing fuses (10A) since I have swapped back to the concerto volt reg, which plugs straight into the concerto wiring harness.

currently i am using (but it is not working)

Concerto main assembly (front bit) with the rotor (big spinning bit inside) from civic, and concerto diodes and concerto volt reg, with a new brusher unit.

Hopefully I have all the compenents of the alternator named correctly...

how did you run the civic alt complete if you haven't changed any plugs? thought the civic plug was different from the concerto plug? which would prevent the civic alt from plugging into concerto harness... :confused:

I used some wire, and clip things to make an adapter from Concerto to Civic.

I know it was working, because without a connection between all the plugs of the plugs (if that makes sense), the car won't start.

I can ask how much the wreckers i know will sell me a concerto alternator, If your happy with the price i can pick it up for you.

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Originally Posted by grifty

I can ask how much the wreckers i know will sell me a concerto alternator, If your happy with the price i can pick it up for you.

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If you can get me a price that would be good. Hopefully it'll be cheaper than the price I got from the only wreckers yard in tas with one....

friken $275 as is :O

(I can get a new one for around the $300 mark.... So no way would I pay that much for a second hand as is)

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Originally Posted by Concerto_Polson

I used some wire, and clip things to make an adapter from Concerto to Civic.

I know it was working, because without a connection between all the plugs of the plugs (if that makes sense), the car won't start.

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you said previously the concerto harness plug has 3 wires but 4 pins. I had a look at the ED plug and it only has 2 wires but 3 pins. so maybe whatever the 3rd wire you are attaching shouldn't be attached if you are trying the complete civic alternator. Have you looked at the concerto FSM?

sorry about all this, if I was aware they weren't interchangeable I wouldn't have sold it to you....

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Originally Posted by markismaximus

you said previously the concerto harness plug has 3 wires but 4 pins. I had a look at the ED plug and it only has 2 wires but 3 pins. so maybe whatever the 3rd wire you are attaching shouldn't be attached if you are trying the complete civic alternator. Have you looked at the concerto FSM?

sorry about all this, if I was aware they weren't interchangeable I wouldn't have sold it to you....

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I need all three wires to be attached... one bottom wire is for ignition, the other is for lamp (battery light). The top wire is for "FR" which I can only guess at meaning Fuel Relay or something to do with the fuel injection...

Is FSM factory service manual?

It's all good mate, turns out I needed a new stator/slip rings anyway.

Just connect the fr and ign wires together and that should sort your issue out

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Originally Posted by RIHIA

Just connect the fr and ign wires together and that should sort your issue out

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I gave that a try and it didn't work.

All sorted now, I managed to find and get a working Concerto alternator for $50. Thanks for all the suggestions though.