"Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote
> "Elle" <honda.lioness@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote
>> "Michael Pardee" <michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote
>>> I was lucky that both my cars that had that problem also had voltmeters.
>>> I noticed the voltmeter in each fluctuating as the brushes made contact
>>> and then didn't, but the lamps never flickered. (Sometimes they wouldn't
>>> come on before start-up when the brushes were wearing out.) Talk about
>>> "idiot lights!"
>>
>> Would you say watching the voltage across the battery terminals of an
>> idling car might also likely pick up bad brushes?
>>
> That's how I caught it in both cases. The voltmeter fluctuated sharply
> between charging and battery voltage. I think the movement of the meter
> caught my eye as much as actual dash scanning did. At first it was only a
> couple seconds dropout at a time, worsening to a minute or so good and a
> minute or so bad within a week. In both cases the dropouts were worse when
> cold.

I want to make sure I understand. These cars had a built-in voltmeter on the
dash, and it was oscillating more than usual? Then you also took a portable
voltmeter under the hood, connected it to the battery terminals, and watched
the voltage at the battery terminals vary?

I have started a site on "Battery & Alternator Tips" and want to include
this or similar.

Doug, I saw your post and agree there is at least a small advantage to going
to the alternator itself for measurements to identify bad brushes. However,
I am trying to devise some quick and dirty checks (if they exist) a
layperson can do to identify likely failed brushes.

Draft: http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id13.html

(Not to supplant Tegger. His site is way more comprehensive. I am
anticipating pre-emptively replacing my 91 Civic's brushes in a year or so,
so I'm writing this up as much for that.)