Hi Scotty,
First of all thank you for all of your efforts and hard work for us all DIYers.
I own a 2006 Honda Civic sedan EX, that has about 180k miles on it. It had light flickering problem since 2014 and my fix then was to put HIDs. Now the HID sometime decide to flicker on and off eapecially when the car is cold. I suspect this infrequent problem to be due to voltage regulator/alternator going bad.
I was wondering if replacing alternator, according to your expert opinion, is a rught fix. Then I was wondering if buying aftermarket or used alternator from lkqonline for instance would come back and bite me in the back.
Please let me know. Thank you.
Flickering lights indicate a loose connection. But your HIDs could just be failing too.
If you go to an autozone or battery dealer, they should test your charging system for free. If you alternator has been weak for 7 years, then the battery is almost certainly on its last leg too.
@Mountainmanjoe:
Thank you for your reply.
I recently replaced the battery, and checked the terminal connections. I also replace HID bulbs every 6-9 months as they loose their brightness.
My car is prissy and alternator runs smooth whenever I get it tested. I am still trying to diagnose looking for that 1V plus minus sine wave showing bad rectifier.
I don't mean test it for mechanical smoothness. I'm talking about an electrical load test. I have never seen a rectifier go bad.
Load test seemed fine when I replaced the battery. That's why it baffled me for so long, especially since the headlights and cabin lights flickering only happen intermittently. I can also see a slight RPM jitter on idle, when light flickering occur. I will double check the terminals and get the alternator tested again.