97 civic ex automatic. I recently had my battery die, jumped it and went to auto zone. They tested and told me I needed a new battery. They installed the new battery and I asked them to test the alternator as well. They tested the alternator with the new battery and said it was fine. This was about 3-4 weeks ago. I was driving home this evening and notice two things. My low beams no longer work but the high beams do. Also, my car was making a noise, almost bubbling or hissing noise. I opened the hood and the noise was coming from the battery and it smells horrible, like rotten eggs. What could this be and what should I do?

 

Take the battery back to where you bought and swap it out for a new one.

I dont think your low beam issue is related though. RonJ will probably be by shortly to tell you which fuses and wires to check for your low beams.

 

You need to check the voltage at the battery with the car running. It should be less than about 15.5 volts. If the alternator is putting out too much voltage, the battery will burn up and also the light bulbs and eventually other stuff on the car will blow out.

The cure for this situation is usually a new alternator.

 

if both lights don't work then it is more likely something to do with the switch, because each beam per headlight has its own wire and fuse, making a total of 4 headlight fuses.

what mk said is also a possibility, definitely have that checked first.

 

Trust continues to speaketh the truth. Check that combination switch on the steering column.

 

I forgot to mention that the battery was pretty hot to the touch.

 

A Google search confirms mk's idea:

http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/glossary/batterysmelltest.html

 

lol
i love it

 

It was the alternator. It was overcharging, putting out about 200 amps.

 

200 amps good gawd~!~