Adam Beem

I have a 1999 Honda Accord that the electrical quit working. I was driving and the tach and speed odometer quit working, then a lack of power from the engine. I got a jump and it ran fine for a min before it began to lose power again. I place the battery on charge and it registered 582 out of 540 rated cca. I placed it in the car and the car didn't show interior lights, turning the key did nothing as if there was no battery at all. I pulled the battery and jumped it straight from the cables and it cranked and ran for about a min. I got a new battery and it would crank but not turn over. Then it showed nothing again interior lights, clock, so on. Then it worked again I jumped it and turned over. I disconnected the negative jumper cable and it instantly died. I then replaced the alternator and still experienced the same issues as before. When there is power to the auxilary it can be jumped but not on its own power. I recently drove it about 8 miles with a jump and when I got home I found that there is gray box with I believe the numbers 1-3-5-7 with a plug under the dash that was hot to the touch. Any help would greatly appreciated

user456101

If you can get it to AutoZone or any parts store they can load test the battery and the alternator for you for free. Is the check engine light on? If it is they can scan for codes as well, for free. If the check engine light isn't on, and the alternator checks out, I would suspect the ignition switch itself. There are plenty of threads on here about ignition switches. I've never had the problem and I don't remember the details. Search them out and see if your symptoms are the same as the ones that were caused by an ignition switch. It is also possible that you've got a grounding problem. Check out Scotty Kilmer's YouTube videos on ignition problems and fixing electrical shorts.

Adam Beem

i went to autozone and they did a test on both the battery and the alternator both checked out independently. The battery tested bad with the cables connected but after i disconnected them the battery tested good. The alternator was putting out around 14.2 on the machine. The srs light is the only one lit up. The symptoms that it is was dead showed up and went away where i was able to jump if off to get home. I retested them with a volt meter and tested the i guess the fuseable block on the firewall on the driver side, starter, and alternator all reading 12 volts while off. along with both of the grounds from the negative battery. Would the ignition switch make everything dead electrically and come back???

user456101

The ignition switch turns everything on and turns everything off when you turn the key. If EVERYTHING randomly turns off and it isn't the battery or alternator, I think the ignition switch is your best bet. If it is just the engine that dies and the radio keeps running and the lights stay on, then it may be the distributor is failing (the plug could have fallen out, etc.)