All Lights Flickering inside n out!
 

I have a 2000 Honda Civic DX automatic...
All my lights are flickering inside and out.
I put a NEW 2 gauge ground wire from engine to chassis, no change.
It seems to be getting worse to the point where a small RED light comes on
below the Temp gauge with 3 letters. I can't make out what they are.
Then the red light turns off, when it's on they really flicker very strong.

When idling it flickers and so I rev up the engine and it seems to stop for a second but then starts flickering again.
When driving on the freeway any speed they start flickering and the RED light comes on more often when driving long distance.

I do have a check engine light on which is P0135 O2Sensor and so i changed the top one but the check engine light is still on!!!

I don't think or feel the two are related but who knows.

Can anyone help me with this issue? Don't want to get stranded with my 4 year old in the car.:confused::confused:

Sounds like a fuse 15 problem. Check fuse #15 under the dash. If it is blown, look for frayed wires on the back of the engine leading to the alternator.

mk378-On the left side under the dash inside the car I checked and see about 3 fuses with 15amps on them. When you say number 15 what are you referring too?
There are NO numbers on the fuses or cover! All the fuses are good, I tested them with a volt meter.

Also have the alternator tested.

7.5A dash fuse 15:

Attachment 6124

OK, I check all the fuses again and and they are all good.
The red light under the temp gauge is a SRS light that is coming on more and more frequently now. And they really Flicker hard when that SRS light comes on.

So what is the next step in process of elimination.

Check for battery voltage on the black - yellow wire at the alternator with the key on, engine not running. This same circuit also goes to the O2 sensors.

with the key on, engine not running...I used a volt meter and pushed the point of the lead into the blk/yellow wire where it goes into plastic plug. I could not remove it from the back of the alternator so i did it that way. It read 0.48 volts! It kind of fluctuated from .47-.49

That is the problem. Get underneath the car and inspect the wires. Confirm again that there is battery voltage on both test points of fuse 15 (i.e. from each test point to ground) with the key on.

ok, thanks I need to wash all the mud from the undercarriage first to be able to see. live up a dirt road, when it rains, it's pretty muddy.
What should the volts read?

About 12 volts, what you get from the battery with the engine not running.

I am having the same exact problem as we speak, Interior dash lights and outside park lights would flicker heavily until my SRS light came on. What i did so far was take it to Autozone to get the alternator and battery checked but that came out fine. I would however look into any alarm/remote start that is installed on the vehicle..

i am having the same issue. just picked up a 2000 Honda civc EX auto for a "reliable" daily. now i am questioning the reliability of this car. my headlights and gauge cluster lights flicker and the car seems way under powered. i am only managing 27 mpgs hwy at most. I am going to check the number 15 fuse and grounds tonight. hope that helps!

To me the car is great and it just happens to be a weird thing to go wrong from what I hear 97-2000. Before i check for the wire black/yellow and chase it back to the number 15 fuse i believe. I took it to pepboys and they put it on a tester and the battery and alternator are fine also.
My next step is to check the #15 to the blk/yellow wire coming out of the Alternator. There is NOT 12 volts coming from this wire.

Please if you guys find it faster than me post so we can all fix this issue. " I hate that SRS light coming on/off lately more often than a year ago.

Gas wise there are a few things to do which are easy. but later. Lets fix this issue, not going to let it get to me.

okay,
took car to shop and lifted it. Pulled the Alternator plug with the 4 wires coming out of it and tested the blk/yellow strip wire- over 12 volts coming out of it.
I then pulled the O2Sensor bottom one and checked the blk/yellow strip wire-9.50 volts coming out.
I then checked the top O2Sensor and tested the blk/yellow strip wire and there is over 12 volts coming out of it.
I disconnected the neg battery cable and 7.5 fuse under the hood for 6 minutes.
The check engine light was off while driving for maybe 30 minutes. When I started the car after a few hours again the Check Engine light came back on.
The SRS RED LIGHT, stop coming on and the flickering is NOT as strong as before. Maybe the wires were a little oxidized where it plugs into the alternator.
Last week i put the original OEM lenses back on from the after market street lenses and put simulated HID bulbs from Pepboys in and the High Beams blew out, last week when the the flickering was strong and the SRS LIGHT was always coming on. The low beams still work though.
The car seems to idle better and the flickering is very light throughout the car since unplugging and plugging back in the alternator 4 wire plug, unless by chance it could be something else.

What next...

9.5 volts on the second sensor is probably a problem. All the black / yellow wires should have about the same voltage since it's a simple parallel circuit. It's better to test under load with everything plugged in and back-probe the connectors.

Getting somewhere with the Flickering Lights!
 

It sounds like the problem may be the regulator (inside the alternator) itself. Start car, turn OFF lights, A/C, etc (every electric option), and measure voltage at the battery. Measure on the lead posts that are part of the battery. Should be 13.5 to 15 volts. Outside this range (especially too high) the regulator is not working.

Talked to a guy today that mentioned disconnecting the alternator and then start the engine and turn the lights on and see if it flickers, What do you think of that test before I buy a NEW ALTERNATOR?

You could try that, just take the belt off which is the second(*) step in replacing the alternator anyway.

(*) The first step is to disconnect the battery. The big wire on the back of the alternator is always live even with the key off.

Disconnect the battery before working on the big wire on the back of the alternator. It is always live and if you short it to ground with the battery connected, the main fuse will blow.

The wires on the back of the engine leading to the alternator.

Realize that when your system voltage is jumping around (for whatever reason), false CEL, SRS, and ABS lights are likely.

Puzzled!
 

Had to take a break from car for a while in order to Buy NEW alternator and some 2"metal clamps.
Since putting on my NEW stainless steel Magnaflow Muffler which is heavier than my original one. It has been banging against the rear bumper cut out at times. I decided to put clamps around the existing rubber supports to the exhaust system. This tightened up my exhaust system 100%.
After doing this my SRS light stopped coming on. And all lights stop flickering for over 2 weeks. Last week I went down a bumpy dirt road and they started flickering again for a short time and then stopped. They hardly flicker anymore and the SRS light rarely comes on. So, is there some sort of wire or connection to the exhaust system under the vehicle that affects this issue?
I don't want to change the alternator just yet but will keep it for backup.
Puzzled but feel i am getting closer to the issue at hand which can help others with this problem!

just shooting this out there,and im not sure if this will help,but we were talking the other day about how if your exzaust is not grounded correctly,your o2 sensors will give off the wrong readings and throw cel codes.you need to have a metal gasket between the block and exzaust manifold,so your o2 sensors opperate correctly(this helps create the ground circuit for the o2).the chat thread i was on talked of making sure your exzaust is grounded,and inlet to your o2 sensors are cleaned,scuffed to bare metal for a better contact(clean out the threads),he also said he had ground the exzaust were the chassy ground connected to the exzaust,to recreate the stock grounding point,were the bolts go in.could it be a grounding issue??

there is a thread about what im refurring to here on this site.if you were just rigging your exzaust up,it might make sense.