ok, my girlfriend has a civic 2002ex and i don't know much about it. She recently had a problem fixed where the maintance required light flashes 5 times and every once and a while the battery light blinks. When she had it fixed the first time the alternator was, suposedly, overcharging the battery and thus the problem. The shop replaced the alternator and battery(because it was old) and the problem was solved. THINK AGAIN! it's back, and it's doing the same thing. Usually alternators last 5-6 years or so. So i am wondering how the same thing could be happening, and so soon?!?? ANY help would be greatly appreciated!!!! any ideas??

 

Measure the voltage at the battery with the car running and the light blinking. If it's more than about 15.5 volts it is indeed overcharging. Confirm that it really is overcharging instead of something else because that is quite a rare problem. Possibly the new alternator is also defective but more likely there's an obscure problem with the car's wiring.

 

yeah, i'm pretty sure that it is not another faulty alternator. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas if it was for sure a wiring problem and if so where would i begin checking???

 

forgot to mention that there is also a little loss of power when being driven.

 

Is there a voltage regulator built in to this alternator?