94 honda civic fried battery

My '94 Honda Civic is on its second battery this week. The car says it's
overheating, but the only thing that I find wrong is the battery. The
battery keeps frying. It starts smoking and acid starts dripping out. I've
heard that it might be the alternator or something,so I changed the
alternator on it the first time that it fried the battery, But, even with the
new alternator it still fried the battery. but I don't know how to go about
checking if it is the alternator. I would really like some help so I can fix
my car as soon as possible. I don't' want to keep buying a new battery.
Could it be an electrical problem? If so, how can i check it without
spending too much money... PLEASE HELP ME!

 

If you're in the US, head on down to one of the big auto parts chains (Pep
Boys, Auto Zone) and they'll throw a meter on your charging system for free.

 

YOU HAVE ALREADY SPENT MORE THAN A GOOD MECHANIC WOULD CHARGE. That said you
apparently have the knowledge to diagnose the problem so take it to someone
who does...

 

The alternator is overcharging, obviously.

Since the voltage regulator is inside the alternator (which was replaced),
the next suspect is the Electrical Load Detector. Assuming no wiring
problems at the alternator's connectors, of course.

It would be wise of you to check the running voltage with a DVOM. If you
don't know how to do that, bring the car to a mechanic. It will be far less
expensive for you to that than try to fix this yourself.

The longer you leave this, the more things will get damaged from the
overvoltage, and the more you will spend.

 

Best way to check this is with a volt meter, (cheap versions can be
bought at Harbor Freight for less than $10). Voltage at the battery
should be around 14.5 volts while running and better than 12 volts when
stopped.

Anything higher that 14.5 volts will tend to boil the acid in the
battery to the extant that it will smell. At 17 volts it is very
noticeable. I suspect that your voltage is even higher and is
indicative of a regulation problem.

JT

 

Hi,
Sounds like overcharging problem. Make sure battery and electrical
system has good grounding.

 

Beware;
the 1st Harbor Freight DMM I bought read too high on it's DCvoltage ranges.
(and thus ALL the functions)
I had to return it and got another that read OK.
Check it against a new alkaline cell (1.5V) or a lithium coin cell (3V)
before depending on it's readings.

 

Heh... I thought that the Harbor Freight stuff automatically implied a
caveat...

<G>