03AccordJunkie

So my wife has a 2003 Honda Accord EX, V-6, Auto.

We went to the store yesterday and upon coming back to the car it wouldn't start. Lights on the dash came on, flickered slightly, when i turned the key I did hear a clicking so I'm thinking the starter is fine. Hooked up some jumper cables and we were on our way.

Today when she went to work, she was driving back from her break and she said her gauges started going out on her then her battery light came on and when she turned it off at work it wouldnt start back up again, she got a jump and it started up, then ran, shook some she said (I was not there) and cut back off.

Im thinking it is the alternator not allowing anything to charge since it is starting up at least with a jump start but wont stay running and im ruling starter out as I hear clicking when I crank the car. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and have a good day!

jdmDAsix

it's your battery. take it to autozone and test it. you can do the same for the starter and alternator.

03AccordJunkie

Sounds good, thats what I was thinking too, just been at work all night, heading to her work soon when I get off to pull the battery and have it tested. Knew it had to be one or the other, may go ahead and change the alternator anyway since they have a good price on them just in case.

03AccordJunkie

I've also been looking over several forums and other sites. have noticed people experiencing same issue as me where when you turn the key it clicks but car is not turning over, they all seemed to have had the issue fixed by replacing the starter. Which is fine and if it is the issue I have no issues replacing it but was just hoping for an answer here first possibly.

Just weird that with a jump it will start, could it still be the starter or should i rule it out for now?

98vtec

Post in the correct section please

03AccordJunkie

Will do, new to this forum, appreciate the move for me

vshavoc

Get a DVOM (digital volt ohm meter) and put it to the 20 DC Volt setting or whatever yours will need to be set to to read the proper voltage. Jump start the car and put the positive lead of the meter on the positive battery terminal and the negative lead on the negative battery terminal. The headlights or something should be on to put a load on it. The meter should read between 13.5-15.0 volts. If it's that high but the car still has a charging issue, the battery is most likely the culprit. If its lower than that you need to do a voltage drop test to see if the cables are good. To do that you keep the car running and put the meter on the 2 DC Volt reading. Put the positive meter lead on the positive battery terminal and put the negative meter lead on the battery cable that goes to the alternator (at the alternator) and write down the reading. Then put the positive meter lead on the case of the alternator and the negative meter lead on the negative battery terminal and write down the reading. Then put the positive meter lead on the battery cable going to the alternator (at the alternator) and the negative meter lead on the alternator case and write down the reading. Add those three readings up and the total voltage drop should only be around 0.5 volts but sometimes a little bit higher is acceptable depending on manufacturer specs. If it's high on one of the cable readings you have a bad cable and if it's high when you test the alternator resistance itself, the alternator would need to be replaced. If the voltage drop is around or below the 0.5 volts, your alternator is most likely the culprit. It can be a few other things too like power wire to the voltage regulator and what not but I doubt it.