I have a 2001 Acura EL. This is nearly indentical to the Honda Civic.

I've had this problem for about a year so I've documented it extremely well....

When I start the car, the battery indicator stays on. In order to get the battery indicator to turn off I must do one of three things:

1. When I rev above 1000rm the indicator begins to flicker. The higher I go, the less it stays on and the more it stays off. If I go above 5000 rpm it stays off completely until the rpm's go back down. If I go above 6000 rpm it stays off for the duration of the trip.

2. If I drive around for a few minutes, the battery indicator will turn off without any unsual reving.

3. If I drive around for a short duration, while using max electricity (ie: wipers on fast, stereo on loud, A/C on full), the indicator will turn off within about 30-45 seconds.

Before the battery indicator turns off, I can tell that I don't have much power. The A/C isn't very strong, the dash lights are dim, my headlights are dim. At the transition point where the battery indicator turns off completely (via 1 2 or 3), electrical momentarily stops (ie: wipers stop, radio turns off, A/C stops), then comes back on at full power and everything is normal for the duration of the trip.

If I turn the engine off before 1, 2, or 3 occurs, the car won't start back up again (ie: I'll need a boost).

I swaped batteries and that didn't help. My current battery is brand new.

So, what's going on?

Thanks!

 

Sounds posessed! Have you taken it to see a mechanic? You should just take it to the dealership or a good mechanic because your problem seems very specific!

 

Load test your alternator. If it is not giving juice this will happen. Could be as simple as a loose wire, or as bad as a spent core.

Try this for weird. My car goes dim on headlights if I brake, etc. but when driving I may randomly get a "red blink". This is coming from the battery light. It red blinks more if I use the radio. Usually it literally blinks so fast you just miss it, but sometimes it stays on a bit.

I only have to pop in my 85 Amp Alterstart alternator to see if it goes away...

 

+1 alternator problem. most probably brushes