shaneisenahs

Honda Civic 1995 EX 1.5L VTEC SOHC

Heres the story: Driving home on a cold night, my radio starts blinking on and off. Then 30 seconds later all my gauges go to zero. My lights begin to fade but my car continues to run. Few seconds later (I'm in fourth gear at about 1500 rpms at this point) my engine wont rev, and it wont provide any power, although it stays on. Put the clutch in and rev my engine just fine. Let the clutch out it wont do anything at all probably at idle rpms (my rpm gauge was at zero so cant be sure) and i coast into a parking lot. Car shuts off and none of my electricity works except the caution lights. Waited about 5 minutes and tried to start my car. Nothing. Waited about 15 mins and it actually sounded full of life, started right up. A minute down the road, same exact situation happened. Shut down, but this time wouldnt start. Left it there came back the next day (today) and it started right up. Got it home (about a minute and a half drive) before it did the same thing again. The blinkers/caution lights blink off coordination and act funny. Radio didnt even think about turning on. Pushed it and it started up, lasted maybe 45 seconds before i tried to roll up my window and everything went dead (power windows). Any ideas? I'm stumped.

delsolproblems

Check all of your fuses and try getting a jump start from a running vehicle. Post how the jump affects the problem.

shaneisenahs

well i looked at all the fuses and they seemed fine i could always check them again. i ruled out jumping it because if i wait a few minutes the battery is full and all the lights everything stay full power, also i bought a brand new battery less then a week ago. but i'll give it a shot

Former User

Clean and tighten the battery terminals and battery ground wire in the engine bay.

shaneisenahs

battery wires are clean as can be. brand new battery it was even clean on the old one.

Former User

Have you checked the battery ground wire attached to the frame?

Do you currently have any power whatsoever? Do the headlights work?

shaneisenahs

yes as i said after del sols post all the lights work and all power is fine if i wait about 10 minutes after the engine dies. lights are strong and everything. havent jumped it and its started 5 times total. its definitely not the battery. the lights all come on fine and it takes a long time for them to even dim. however if/when it does start immediately after it dies again all the lights are dim.

shaneisenahs

*that still wouldnt explain why it would die while running other than an alternator problem which i really dont see as the problem. also wouldnt explain the fact that the accelerator wasnt doing a thing while it died yet i can put the clutch in and rev it up just fine and then as soon as i let the clutch out no power at all. and i have a loud exhaust lol :/ so its quite apparent the difference when its reving with the clutch in compared to when i let the clutch out and it sputters*

92shade

i blame the alternator cable mine did the exact same thing found out my alternator cable had corroded and was only making contact sometimes and other times it wasnt

SMHero

Probably an alternator issue or a bad connection somewhere. In gear the car is under a load. Push in the clutch, no more load.

Former User

The point is that, from what you are saying, you have no power at all for 10 minutes. Please correct me if I am wrong. So you may indeed have a loose battery ground or power wire that fails intermittently.

delsolproblems

I suggested getting a jump from a running vehicle because if your alternator isn't working, then running the car off of another vehicle's charging system will help.

95civiccpdx

most likely a alternator or a ground problem thats why its doing only when there is a load on the engine

shaneisenahs

thanks i was thinking it would be a short somewhere or something but an alternator cable makes sense. the alternator should be fine but i'll check it out. the load on the engine part makes it all make sense. thanks again i'll see what happens and get back

tico

Your charging system wires might be a good starting point. I would also check your Main relay. Its typical that this happens when its been on for a few mins. The relay gets hot and contacts inside of it expaned. Then when it cools off it works like nothing happend. Let us know what you find. Hope this helps you out

1phatEG8

Just take the alternator off & take it to the nearest Advance or Auto Zone & let them test it for free. If it's good, go from there. Normally you could just unhook the positive cable on your battery & if it dies, it's bad.

angel_i

Its the alternator.

Jokerone

Its the alternator, I had the exact same problem.

gsrjoel

DUDE!! I was just checking the forum because I am having the SAME exact problem. My car is a GSR swap. Alternator was just changed like literally a week and a half ago... I have no idea what it could be besides that. Someone told me the starter, others told me battery terminal. One guy thinks that the alternator that was put in it may be defective??? I know its not the starter and it can't be the alternator itself because it is brand new! Any suggestions? I just gotta get this thing fixed soon cause its a DD....

Hill4589

Charge battery, drive car, look and see if battery light is on, if it's on, there is a problem with your alternator.

Hondatherdm

Sense alt makes AC power then it transformed into DC, when its AC starts to pass by to car electronics thats when crazy things happen

tico

Hmmm interesting theory. The rectifier in the alt could be bad. Its what turns AC to DC current. You could try and have it tested. Just cuz its a new alt does not mean it can't be defective. I would look at the simpler posible causes and go from there. Its hard to pin point electrical problems cuz it could be a number of things. Obviously the battery is ok and terminals are good. Check grounds. Try a new main relay. Test each component. Report back asap

Hondatherdm

rectifier thats the word i was trying to think

hOnda_hiEn

check your alternator fuse under the dash.. if this fuse is blown.. itll cause your car to go crazzzzzyy..

3M1mugen

ahhhh same prob on em1 wit new alternator installed,still tryin 2 figure it out