96electronH

i have the same problem when i first start my none of the dash lights come on. i always thought it was because of my HIDS. the lights also dim when im at idle.

NOFX

Mine dim if I hit the brakes after driving a few miles without touching them.

TypeRMOBBiN209

i'm having the same problem, ive changed the alternator and the battery and nothing!
the lights keep flickering and pretty much drains my battery

RyanA

Remove and clean all of your grounds. Make sure they are all in the correct spots. Clean and reinstall the trans and engine grounds. Remove the ground from the thermostat housing, clean, reinstall. If that does not do it and if your alternator checks fine, you either have a whacky ELD or possibly a bad battery, etc.

Former User

What year Civic?

TypeRMOBBiN209

its actually an 2000 integra, but i'm having this same problem

mattblack

I had the same problem. I fixed the lights flickering by pulling the alternator control wire (usually green/white) out of the ecu harness. The lights stay nice and bright now but it is something to do with the ELD bc I have my fuse box relocated under the dash and it clicks loudly every time the lights brighten or dim. Pulling the wire keeps the lights normal but the fuse box still clicks.

Everybody should try to find out if their fuse box clicks also so we can finally figure this out.

The real problem I have is that my car also won't idle right and I think the two problems are related. About every 20 seconds the idle will drop and build back up once the car is warmed up. I think its maybe a ground, but I'm not sure.

3gcvcd16

Could you explain this better. I was trying to figure today out how to bypass the eld and ended up killing the alternator. I am looking for a way to eliminate the eld and have a way to stay up at 14 volts and no light flickering. I took the alternator to advance auto parts and they said the regulator was fried lucky i bought one a while back with lifetime warranty. The guy i spoke to know about the problem before i said anything. He said it's comun to do.

3gcvcd16

One thing i noticed when checking the eld's function that on the diagram it says the there is a wire that goes to the ignition for 12 volts when i measure it has none, so i threw a wire to that wire and got 12.5 with the lights on and no flickering so if maybe you can put this to a accessory fuse so it is no on all the time and i wouldn't drain the battery

hybridb18

I did the exact same thing and it solved the problem. Cant remember which wire it is Green/white? Which pin on the ecu i cant remember, but it works

gotled

do you have hid's or halogens? What setup for headlights

Exdeath

Headlight Dimming FIXED without replacing Alternator or Battery

First I tightened all the screws in the fuse box under the hood marked with red arrows, and replaced the 60A fuse in the fuse box.


By ralphypoo at 2010-10-06

Second when I tightened the cable on Terminal B on the alternator marked with red arrow, it broke off, which made me remove the terminal, tap it, and put a new stud in.

This required removing and installing the 8MM screw holding the terminal on, under terminal B.


By ralphypoo at 2010-10-06

I am not sure which part of all these steps corrected the issue, but it did, and cured the AC blower motor problem which was constantly changing speed.

TypeRMOBBiN209

mine turned out to be a loose screw in the fuse box

AnthonyEKPRJ

moral of this story i guess is check the small stuff first. I had a similar problem on my EJ7. Turns out it was a fuse issue. wasnt bad but it solved it. and i cleaned the grounds.

EE_Chris

Honda Charging Systems

dc_man99

mine did that for a little bit but the ground to my battery was a little bit lose

highknees69

I have a 2003 Accord EX V6 with the same issue. It just started happening about 2-3 months ago. Does anyone have a diagram or instructions on how to remove or replace the ELD? Is this even possible? I was told by my mechanic that I could remove it temporarily to see if it resolves the problem and if it does, then replace it.

Former User

Post your question in the Accord subforum.

d16rice

mine does that too (95 civic), but then again its putting out 21 Volts, so I'm pretty sure it's the alternator in my case but I'll make sure to check all the wires too.

selvan777

I've had this same dimming issue for years.
Thanks, will give it a try and post back.

LightningTeg

I having this issue almost exactly as described, although I think its more severe. The engine noticably picks up torque when it hits 4k rpm and the lights get brighter. This is regardless of load on the electrical system. I've also gotten codes for low voltage to primary o2 sensor. Its seems like its progressively gotten worse so it may be some loose wires, but the 4k RPM EVERYTIME thing makes me think otherwise.

I checked the alternator and battery at idle and they seem to be fine. I'll have to perform the steps here this weekend and see what happens.

Emeraldbomber

I've had this problem since I bought my ej1. Will try tightening those screws and report back later.

Ryan96GSR

Yeah I've noticed headlights and dash lights dimming at idle, and when I run the rear window defrost I get the same result.

Going to go through all of the small steps first and see where that gets me.
Alternator appears to be original. Motor has 270k km.

Emeraldbomber

Alright, so I tightened up all the screws in my fuse box and it seems the problem has went away. I replaced the screw that goes from the batery to the fuse box and all is well.

scottied15

iTrader: (1)

did you check that the headlight ground wires are tight?