rudeman85

ok...so i put in a new yellow top a month ago and today i decided to de-grease my engine.... Came out clean but water got in the distributor, took a while to figure = trying to start the engine alot = a lotta juice from battery. But about 2 days ago I started to notice my lights diming. But tonight me and my girl went to the movies and the car was sluggish and lights were on the dim side. After about driving 20 mins after moving lights got really dim and then my tach and speedo jumped up and down then both went to zero. Lights got REALLY REALLY dim and I lost almost all power. So i made it home tonight in first gear with no lights So does this sound like an alternator problem. Car has over 200,000+ on original alternator.......IS THIS MY PROBLEM????

rudeman85

anybody???

fleetmack

when i was driving from des moines to denver last july.....my guages did the jump all the way up then down to 0 like you said (on a 95lx)..... the lights also dimmed hardcore. when i turned the lights off, the guages started working again, i made it home (about 40 miles).....everything was ok. the next day on the way to work, exact same thing happened. the volts on the alt were fine (as tested at a checker auto store)...but the tester wouldn't check the amps. i replaced the alternator and everything was then fine. i assume it was the amps on the alternator, but never had them officially tested...

so yes, i'd assume it's your alternator.

rudeman85

yes, it was the alternator... And for the amps, it was only putting out a little over an amp. The first guy at autozone said it was ok, then the one really good guy i know checked and said amps are waaaaayyyyy to low. So I picked up a new one and my car REALLY runs great!

bokals

good thing you did or your gonna be sitting on the side of the road like me

RotaryBzzzz

i was just gonna say:

clean all your terminals before you do anything!

I thought I had a alternator going bad until i hit everything (ie battery terminals/wire loom contact points) with a bit of sandpaper. My charging voltage went from 12.9-13.0
back up to a solid 13.8-13.9.

Non-Honda Rebuilt alternators suck. Or can suck really bad.

Confuc1ous

i dont mean to hijack the thread but i have a question, i havent driven my accord in forever, so i jump started it the other day, and left it in the driveway to run, i think about after 20 minutes the car was idling and just died out...i have since bought a new battery and am planning on putting that in and trying to start it up to see if its the battery or alternator...how would i know if from sitting for so long the alternator has gone bad?

RotaryBzzzz

alternators shouldn't go bad like that. Uh...in california.

However, if you left the car outside in Jersey weather, that is a possiblity.

Use a voltmeter to see what your charging voltage is with the car running. It -could- just be there is high-resistance at the terminals (ie corrosion) and you just need to clean everything up.

Obsidian

If you left your car sitting for a while in really cold weather (such as NJ has) during the winter (which it is), then it could really kill the battery. I say drop in the new battery and see what goes down but that is my guess.

Confuc1ous

yea man, it was damn cold and the car held down the driveway for a long period of time now. I bought new brakes because they seem to have rusted, not through the rotor but still, better to be safe than sorry. My suspension KYB AGX are good, but the coil sleeves seem to also have crapped out, they are still holding the car up but they make all sorts of squeeks when you drive and when you hit a pothole or something, whew, **** is F'd up. I want to get the AGX out of there ASAP. Then the reason the car is sitting idle is because i need someone to change out my main engine harness, and people arent estimating cheap, so im trying to get everything done with one place and hope they cut me a break!

oh, the old battery i have has a warranty, so i think i can take it back and tell the dude to replace it, that is perfect, either that or i can throw in the new one i have and return it for the 8 dollar core charge. Not sure. who knows, just need the car to get on the road!

Obsidian

Your brakes probably aren't bad. They rust over when sitting there but unless it is horribly horribly bad, they'll probably be alright alright a little bit of driving. The same thing goes for your shocks or whatever the AGX things are. You need to get that peice out and about and she should come about.

Confuc1ous

damn, well i bought new suspension so i'll just sell my suspension parts, no biggie, im selling the 18's i have on the car also...they have 1000 miles on them, with some toyo's on them, i paid 1100 so i'll try to get 700 for them if i can, who knows, i need to offset the cost of all the new parts...! The brakes cost me 50 bucks for pads and rotors, i got a super deal on that so im ok with getting new ones.