loganmace

I understand I am a new user, but I am not here to jerk anyone around I just need some help from people who know these cars, please.

I have a 2001 Accord EX that was given to me to use- I needed another commuter car while I was away for school and my wife keeps our Fusion. I drove the car for a few weeks and it left me stranded on the side of the road after shutting off for no apparent reason. I narrowed it down, or so I thought, to an alternator; after replacing the alternator the issue came back. Since this car was a second car just for commuting, I let it sit for about six months as it wasn't needed. Well, I just transferred schools in order to finish my degree and am now in need of the car. So, here it what has occurred in the last few weeks while trying to fix the car:

1) I replaced the battery and the issues went away, or so I thought again. (The battery that was replaced was "bench-tested" and was in fact bad.) I drove the car home over an hour away with no issues. However, a few days went by and the car started showing the same issues again: dash cluster, radio, and basically all things electric losing power. I limped the car home as I was not too far away.

2) I get the car home, get it jumped and take it to Autozone where they test the "new" alternator ON THE CAR and determine it is "bad." This alternator was still under warranty (even though the manufactures tag was dated 2008, they still replaced it as I ONLY bought it last year). \

3) Today, the new alternator arrives and I pick it up, put it on with high hopes and still has the same issues.

More info:
-I have checked fuses and all seem to be ok.
-I know little about Honda's, admittedly.
-The FIRST alternator I put on was NOT bench tested, but tested on the car which gave a reading of around half its output (which is what lead to this diagnosis).
-The FIRST alternator had a manufacture tag that was dated 2008 (I purchased it in 2011) so it sat three years.

Here is a link to a video of the car's issues and how they occur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DsOlG4gj-Y

Thank you all!

jdmcertified909

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

loganmace

This makes sense if it only did it when the car was shut off. However, it does it even when the car is running. The parasitic drain wouldn't be parasitic when the car is running due to the alternator doing its job.

j894

In general we need to know more symptoms of when this occurs..
After stalling out does it start up right away or does it take several tries? Does it restart at all after stalling? Do you hear the fuel pump when attempting to restart it, etc.

My '99 accord did something similar to what you describe as far as randomly stalling out even while driving. Sometimes the car wouldn't restart sometimes it would. It turns out it was a worn ignition switch.... and holding the key slightly forward after the engine was running(not in the start position) would prevent this. I believe the '97-'99 accord were recalled for this because the contacts in the switch wore and cause intermittent connection problems. That's not to say it is definitely your problem but its worth checking out even if the newer ones weren't recalled. Try putting a tiny bit more pressure on the key while its running and see if it still stalls out.

loganmace

I may not have been clear on this: the car doesn't actually stall out; the car shuts all things electronic down and runs poorly-I assume because whatever the issue is, puts the ECM in some sort of "safe" mode ( I may be wrong on this).

Watch the video (if you haven't) that is what it does. The car continues to run until I shut it off, just runs with a noticeable decline in performance. After shutting the car down, it will not restart unless it is jumped. The video begins how the car acts with a fully charged battery. (In the case of the video it is hooked up to jumper cables.) As the battery drains it does what the video shows: shuts all gauges and electronics down and fails to restart.

The fuel pump relay clicks when the key is on and you can hear it running. I am kind of leaning towards a ground issue, short, or ECM failure of some kind. However, as I mentioned, I know nothing of Honda and sought out people who may have experienced something like that, or a common issue with these cars that I am unaware of.

jdmcertified909

yeah but its obvious the alternator is not charging right if all electronics start shutting down. i had a 1990 nissan stanza where the belt for the water pump was connected to the alternator. one day my belt started squealing hard my alternator adjust screw striped it was half stripped from before. i made it home but it started to overheat went half way stopped it before it started heating up i lost all power felt sluggish dash lights went out stereo went out everything went out had no power to anything. but was still running voltage i had was 11.12 after that happened

loganmace

It's on the correct belt (there are two belts: a smaller belt to drive the power steering pump and that is all and the thicker belt for the rest). Agreed, it's not
charging and that is what I'm trying to remedy.

tim73

Start car, then remove battery positive cable. If it runs alt is charging, if it dies, then it isn't. Check all grounds, especially the one from the engine, to the chassis. If unsure, run a larger wire from engine straight to negative side of battery. Check ignition switch really good. If you can get your hands on a known good one see if you can swap it and see if it helps

DCFIVER

There is no easy answer(certainly not a parasitic draw,LoL) A voltage drop on the battery terminals and a voltage drop at the alternator B+ is the simplest things that can be done. Otherwise, you will need wiring diagrams and need to trouble shoot the source of the short. I would start with the cluster.

loganmace

Ok, thank you for the input. I will test to see if the alternator is charging by removing the positive terminal; I will post my results in a few minutes. If that is the car continues to run, I will move on to checking the cluster.

I had a 240sx that the speedometer stopped working, and the ECU wouldn't allow it to rev passed (if I remember correctly) 3500-4000 RPMs; is this the same with these cars? When the speedo or tach stops working, does the ECM limit the car's performance to keep it "safe?"

The previous post got me thinking about this may be being the issue and here is why: the speedometer would randomly stop, just before the car started exhibiting the current issues; it would randomly begin working again, until one day it stopped and hasn't worked since. I assumed, since the car has 187,xxx miles, that is was just a speed sensor (VSS).

loganmace

Alright, so after removing the positive terminal when the car was running, it immediately died. As I mentioned before, the this is the second replacement alternator that I have put on (the odds of getting two bad ones in a row have to be slim). All connections on the alternator are secure, as well as the battery. If this test is in fact an indication of the alternator NOT charging, then there is an issue between the battery and the alternator. But, what? The grounds off the battery are in tact and tight, as are the ones I can see in the bay. Hmmm...

Werdnaegni

Just chiming in to say that I'm having the same problem with my 2002 accord. If you do end up figuring it out, PLEASE PM me or email me at werdnaegni@gmail.com
I think I'm going to take it somewhere today.
I changed my alternator because they said they thought that was it, and on the way home today it happened again.
Some added info: A few days ago, the accelerator just stopped working, after all my dash stuff stopped working...my engine was still running but I just couldn't accelerate. It revvved and stuff but nothing...I pulled over and it died. I jumped it and it worked, then it died a few minutes later..jumped it...it turned on but before I even got in the car it died again.
Came back the next day, jumped it, and got home fine. It seems that after it sits for a while it ALWAYS works again. I drive for about 10 minutes though and my dash stuff starts messing up. I always make it to work though and always make it home from work, because it's a short distance. The other night when it broke down though, I was driving a bit farther.
My alternator has been tested twice and said to be fine both times though.
So frustrating.

jdmcertified909

try the main fuse under the hood. should be a black fuse or green. 30 amp to 50 amp depends what demands previous owner had on it.

loganmace

Werdnaegni: That sounds like a battery issue. Your accelerator wasn't working probably due to your car actually being shut off. It sounding like it was running because, I assume it is a 5 speed, and it was still in gear-thus still turning the engine over. I would just try putting a new battery on first (one you know is good, or pulling yours and getting it tested) and see if that fixes it.

Werdnaegni

It's an automatic. And I've had my battery tested and they said it was fine. This was when the problem first started happening though.

loganmace

Hmm. I would have it rechecked (since it is free to have done anyways).

Where is the alternator fuse located (I don't have the manual for the car)? Also, I read that the VSS fuse and Alt fuse are the same, is this true? If so, this makes a lot of sense-both don't work.

Werdnaegni

I am an idiot when it comes to cars and that was a foreign language to me haha. Sorry.

loganmace

The second part of my post wasn't directed at you, but to anyone who knows.

UPDATE: I MAY HAVE FIXED IT. I WILL UPDATE FOR SURE IN A FEW HOURS TO BE SURE IT IS FIXED, BUT IT IS LOOKING GOOD!
Fuse #6 (driver side panel) was ever-so-slightly broken. I am not sure how I missed this the first time through, but I did. Hopefully this was the full extent of the issue.

loganmace

So it seems that the issue is fixed. I appreciate all the replies to this thread.