main dealership checked twice and said it's a battery and 3 other car electrical shops said that battery is fine.

today i went back to the dealership and we agreed that they will put new battery and if it fixes the issue great but if it doesn't they don;t charge me and will keep looking further.

so after 3 hours i find my S with my original battery installed back (surprise surprise - a new one didn;t help), steering wheel, instrument panel and all plastics around off.

"what the hell are you guys doing???!!!"
"we need to check instrument cluster"
"don't you see it's the alternator? do you want to disassemble the whole car before you try the alternator?"

i basically don't care but in the process some damage is always done and i already saw 2 scratches on plastic panels
the S is left there overnight

anyway - they claim that they checked charging system and current under load and it was fine.

guys that had similar flickering instrument panel - did your headlights also flickered a little?
it usually easy to see at idle under load such an AirCon.

 

Get a cheap multimeter and set it to 20V DC. Start the car and test the battery terminals. It should read somewhere in the range of ~14V, or about 2V more than your battery reads when the car isn't started. If it's less than that then your alternator is probably shot.

 

it is the PART of the alternator you need to replace not the WHOLE thing. the part you need to replace is called the rectifier. it holds the diodes. you probably have 1 or more done which is causing the flickering at idle. same thing happend to me about 1.5 yrs ago and replacing the rectifier worked. It is not the battery. you do not need to replace the WHOLE alternator. just replace the rectifier which is about 160 bucks. the part i am talking about is part 8 in this picture.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/j...TOR+%28DENSO%29

 

Mine does the same thing. Although I dont think it could be alternator because my headlights, dome lights, stereo, dont dim. Turning a/c on and off has no effect either. Bumping up rev from idle steadies it out, but once back in idle the gauges pulse. Note only the gauges, not any of the other dash lights.

 

thx for responces.

i checked with DVM once on battery terminals and voltage was 13.5-13.8.
i also have Scangauge and it shows similar voltages.

anyway - the dealer ordered part f the instrument panel - LCD display and print board (which also houses voltage regulator/driver for the whole thing).

will see whether it helps.

 

that wont work. your paying for parts you dnot need.

 

i'm not paying.
it's all under warranty.

i tolde them from the beginning and many more times - it's the alternator.
but they claim that charging system passed all tests that service manual specifies.

 

oh ok then as long as you dont pay but yea the test will pass becasue i went to auto zone and they said my alternator was fine.

 

The charging system WILL pass all tests.

You will still need a rectifier assy to fix the dash.

Yourself+s2ki is more knowledgeable than the dealer.

 

I hope they know of the new manual. The old was garbage I could have re-written it myself. TONS of mis-information.