phys101

URGENT: I need my car working ASAP; I need to get to school! I do have another option to drive, but it doesn't have the permit required to park on campus.

I've been having alternator problems (I think) with my 1992 Accord EX lately, and now it won't start at all.

Whenever I drive my car on the interstate for a while, then slow back down to city speed limits, my battery light comes on. If I only drive at city speeds, the battery light rarely comes on. This has been going on for almost 6 months now. I'm a college student living on-campus, so I rarely had to drive it during the semester, and when I did, I almost never had to take it on the interstate, so this problem wasn't a big deal.

I'm now living with my parents for the summer, but taking classes on campus. I now drive 20 minutes on the interstate every morning, and the car has been doing exactly as I described every morning. As long as I put it in neutral when I can (or turn on the air conditioner on one of the higher settings, oddly enough), the battery light turns off. Also, if I'm in neutral at a stop light, and the battery light is off, it will come on if the blinker is on, and blink in unison with the blinker.

Thursday and Friday of this week, I head a very faint noise that sounded like a slipping belt, but only after getting off the interstate, never when first starting the car. I didn't drive it at all on Saturday, and today (Sunday) the car won't start.

When I turn the ignition, I get dash lights, power locks and windows work, CD player works, even headlights come on, but the engine doesn't even try to turn over. When I try to turn it over, the dash lights fade, power windows get sluggish, and the CD player turns off completely.

It seems to me that I have a low battery, caused by a slipping alternator belt, but I have very limited experience with cars. It also seems strange that it would be the case, because I spend nearly 30 minutes on the interstate with no battery light coming on, then drive for well under 5 minutes in town whether I'm going home or to campus.

EDIT: I was about to jump start the car, when I decided to check it one last time (about 5 hours after it first failed to start), and it started just fine like nothing had ever gone wrong. I turned it off and back on a couple of times, and it started just fine each time. I drove it around for a while, and had no problems. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

sgraham01

check the battery voltage, should be at least 12-12.5. disconnect the battery and make sure the connections are clean. charge the battery or have it charged if it's not up to at least 12V. reconnect the battery and check the battery voltage with the engine running. Should be 14V or more. Check alternator belt tension. if it's loose, tighten it slightly. you are obviously running low voltage. if that doesn't help, have the alternator and battery tested

Mad Medicine

I'm not saying that your alternator is functioning 100%, but this statement makes me think it's the battery:

The alternator should charge the battery more during freeway driving than during city driving, so I'd say that your battery is just not holding a charge. Like the previous user said, get both tested if you can, but I'd place my money on a faulty battery.

phys101

I'll definitely check out the battery and alternator this weekend.

I'm a little confused though, because it did start at one point after it first broke down. I can't get it start again, but it's doing the same thing (which is nothing) when I turn the key as it did the first time. If my battery is low, wouldn't it have never started back up on it's own?

Oh well, I guess I'll find out if its the battery when I test it! Thanks for the advice!