Idle goes up with electrical load on Integra

95 Teg...Idles pefectly at 750, except when engine is under electrical load,
most often with the headlights on, where it goes up to about 1,000.

Normal? or indication of a problem.

 

My '94 Civic has an ELD, Electrical Load Detector in the under-hood fuse
box. When the electrical load goes above a certain value, the ECU will
kick up the idle speed a tad. Mine is not as dramatic as going from 750
RPM to 1000 RPM, though.

 

idle should goto 900-950 rpm whern the headlights or AC is turned on.

 

Hmmm, does that mean something's wrong if the idle speed *doesn't* go
up with a load? My idle speed is always 750rpm regardless of
electrical load.

I'm not sure if I have a bad ground, but on my 90 Teg with the
headlights on the dash lights are a bit dim at idle, and go to the
proper brightness around 900-1000rpm.

 

I don't know about the Integra, but on the '94 Civic, USA got the ELD
(electrical load detector), Canada did not. Could also be that the '90
Integra didn't have it in any market.

 

The factory manual for the '91 Integra shows no Electrical Load Detector.

The idle should dip a bit momentarily when a heavy load is applied (eg:
rear defroster), but should then climb back up immediately.
Removal of the load should make the idle increase a bit, then immediately
drop back down again.

 

Yup, that's what I get. Do your dash lights dim at idle compared to
1000rpm? Given the age of my car and the location of the battery
ground, I'm guessing my ground connection could use some cleaning.
Problem is it's impossible to access without removing the battery and
tray.

 

If your dash lights are dimming at idle, you've got either a bad ground or
a weak battery. Do your headlights do the same thing?

Check these:
http://tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/2nd_gen_teg_engine_grounds.jpg

Don't neglect the wires that go from the rad support to the rocker cover.
They're thin and vibrate with engine movement, so they break easily.
(That's the "Engine Ground" in the jpeg).

 

The battery is less than a year old, and the previous one was around 5
years old before it died. The dimming was much worse before I
replaced the battery.

I also replaced the engine ground wire last summer - the old one was
completely corroded, and registered a high amount of resistance on my
voltmeter (around 200+ ohms if I remember corectly). There was a
slight but noticeable difference in engine response & fuel economy
after that was replaced.

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the other ground wires.