Thewhistlingfrog
New Member
Hi there. This one has me really stumped. My daughter has a 1988 Honda Shuttle 56i. Recently after she cooked the motor I replaced the blown head gasket and got the head planed valve seats done etc. Despite being an old school engine fixer I got the whole thing apart and back together again without too many issues. It even started and ran well first go after reassembly. It went well for a few hours and then the alternator light (and cat overheat light) came on. I took the alternator out and found that the lower brush had got quite hot and fused to the holder. I thought this may have happened during the engine overheat so I took the brush out cleaned it up got it moving again and put it all back together again. Same thing happened in an hour or so. I checked over all the connections to make sure they are right. Took it out , freed it up but the same thing happened. Thought maybe it was an alternator fault. Got a good second hand alternator put that in everything was sweet for an hour or so and then same thing. Pulled the new alternator apart and again it was the lower brush that was seized. I am at a loss now to know what to try next. The check engine light is coming on as well now. This is an old car that is not worth a lot. The alternator and cat temperature warning lights are connected. Could it be one of the cat sensors got damaged and are causing the alternator to overcharge?Anyone got any ideas?