The battery is only 1 year old, the belt is less than that, and the alternator has less than 5,000 miles on it. Any idea why my battery light (charging system indicator) would be flashing intermittently?

 

Check both the battery voltage while car off and battery voltage while car running to see if your battery & alternator are good. Inspect the connections to the battery too while at it. Loose or corroded connectors can obviously create issues.

 

Also check all your grounds and make sure they're tight and not corroded.

 

I did a visual inspection of everything, an checked for corrosion on the terminals, nothing there. I'm guessing O'Riley's or Advance Auto can hook something up to the car to check the battery/alternator.

Have you guys heard of this where it wasn't the battery or alternator?

 

Sometimes a visual inspection is not enough, I would take off every terminal at every ground point and battery and clean them all with a wire brush. Make sure the terminals are shiny where they make contact with the ground and tighten them all back down. I would also likely pull on each terminal to make sure the wire isn't loose from the terminal itself.

 

Will do

 

Definitely good advice from thoiboi. If there's any grime on the battery posts or inside the connectors you can sand it off with a rough grit sandpaper. When reconnecting make sure everything is snug.

A voltmeter is enough for the basic diagnostic of battery/alternator but otherwise shops have battery testers.

 

My engine bay is pretty clean, so no corrosion or grime of any sort, and the terminals are very tight, but I can certainly take them off to check them.

 

Feel along the positive battery cable behind the clamp for about two feet or so to see if it is corroding out beneath the cable sheathing. Several members have had that occur, and the clamps didn't appear to be corroded much in those cases.
I've heard it's about a $50 cable if bought OEM.

 

I wouldn't buy OEM at that point and just get some good quality 0 AWG wire and replace it. ( similar to when people do the "Big 3 upgrade")

 

Just got back from Advance, they hooked their OBD II reader up to it and here is what it said:

61-1 ABS
Battery Voltage
Malfunction
CURRENT

83-1 ABS
Engine Control
Module (ECM) /
Powertrain Control
Module (PCM)
Relation
Malfuction
CURRENT

The guy said he thought there was a relay going bad. ????

 

Mine is covered by wire loom, and pulling it back just a little doesn't show any issues. Are you saying that I need to take all the loom off because the issue could be a few feet away from the terminal?

 

You can slit the wire loom, starting at the tape wrapping the loom near the positive clamp. Disconnect the battery before cutting the slit.
If it's bad, replace the cable.
If it's copacetic, close the loom with tape.

I don't think you need to go further than halfway down the side of the battery on the lower end, and probably a few inches along the cable to the fuse box.

 

So have they tested the battery? Unruly power delivery can trigger a bunch of weird symptoms.

 

No, he didn't test the battery or the alternator. Basically he said that since they were both replaced within the last year, and the only issue was the one light flickering intermittently, then it was probably something else.

 

I've had a battery replaced twice within a year. First time I replaced the alternator at the same time, a year later just the battery.
I don't buy it. Batteries can go bad like anything else. Manufacturing defects occur, "time" is never a good judge of proper functionality.

 

Agreed. I'm going to O'Riley's to have the battery and alternator tested asap.

 

Just to update this thread for those finding it in a search. The battery tested bad at Honda, but good at AutoZone. However, it was leaking acid a bit from the top, so they replaced it under warranty. When we took it out there was a large puddle of acid in the battery tray. I imagine that this will fix my intermittent charge light, but I'll update the thread if it doesn't.

 

So you have been dealing with this for two months?

 

Yes. Battery tested good, alternator tested good, so I was just going to wait until something failed and then I'd know the cause. But the battery light would only come on infrequently, and only when slowing down, never when accelerating. Seemed a bit weird to me, but all seems to be well now. The lesson is that even though a part can test "good", it could still be causing problems.