Okay, so I recently bought a brand new battery from Walmart (about a week and a half ago) and then installed a new alternator (about a week ago) in my car. I was driving into Macon when I noticed both my speedometer and tachometer going crazy in my car. When I took my foot off the gas or had it out of gear, they would bounce around back and forth from 0 to whatever it had been reading before. It would do this once or twice, then stop. I kept going and got further into town. Later, I noticed that when I had it out of gear and my foot on the brake, the tach and speedometer would read zero. Then, as soon as I took my foot off the brake, they'd go back to normal. It was about this time that I noticed other things acting strangely. The lights in my dash became dimmer and dimmer, my radio got softer, and my engine idled lower and lower. When we checked the battery, it showed 11.25 volts on it. When we took the alternator to AutoZone (where we got it from), it passed all of their tests. What's going on?

Specs: 1995 Honda Civic 4 cyl 1.5 ltr Two Wheel Drive Manual 159000 miles

. Remove and fully charge the battery--even new batteries should be charged for several hours, prior to installation. Alternators are not chargers, but maintainers.

. Perform tests in the link below:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...ml#post1973613

. Check for parasitic battery drain:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-t...tml#post241804

The quality of remanufactured alternators often leaves a lot to be desired, despite looking clean and shinny. I suspect the internal alternator brushes are worn down too far. They are difficult on Honda alternators to check and replace--the remanufacturer, I'm sure, did not bother. My bet is the alternator is bad--exchange it for another.

When I took the alternator to O'Reilly's and the guy listened to it, he said that it sounded like one of the brushes was hitting something. When he hooked it up to his machine, it failed all of the tests it ran. I later discovered that his adapter was faulty on his machine, and the tester at AutoZone showed that it passed all of the tests. I'm not really sure what to think at this point. Is it because I bought the battery at Walmart? Is it because I bought the alternator from AutoZone? Does the place where you buy these things even matter? Who knows?

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'd rate your answer (per your sig), but I can't find the link that allows me to do that.