wreckedhatch

Heres my situation: The other day my check engine light came on in my 92 hatchcrap and i decided to ignore it for awhile since school is kinda hectic right now but this past weekend i noticed that my horn sounds like crap, almost like a bell noise and at stop lights my engine sputters like it wants to die and the check engine light flickers when this happens. anyone know possibly whats wrong? i know i should take it in, but that wont be till this weekend so for now im just curious, help would be appreciated, thanx.

93civiccoupe

a friend of mine had that same problem in his 96 civic. turns out to be a ground problem on his altinator and a fuse was blown. so check that and also run the codes on your car see what that pulls up.

wreckedhatch

bump for more advice, thanx 93 civiccoupe, any other possibilities before i get home?

dreww..

almost positive its your Alternator, have it looked at asap, when an alternator goes, it gets worse daily, eventually your car will shut down completely and rejuvenate itself while sitting...so have that checked out, and replaced

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dreww.. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">almost positive its your Alternator, have it looked at asap, when an alternator goes, it gets worse daily, eventually your car will shut down completely and rejuvenate itself while sitting...so have that checked out, and replaced </TD></TR></TABLE>

yea, i forgot to mention that! After about a 20 min drive to school i turn off my car and try to start it up again immediately and nothing, but when i come back from class an hour later it starts up. But could the alternator make my horn sound like crap?

dreww..

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wreckedhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

yea, i forgot to mention that! After about a 20 min drive to school i turn off my car and try to start it up again immediately and nothing, but when i come back from class an hour later it starts up. But could the alternator make my horn sound like crap?</TD></TR></TABLE>

hell yeah dude...I had one go before...RIGHT before it completly died, my whole ******* gauge cluster went HAYWIRE, like started spazzing, flashing, my rpms shot up, speedo shot up, it was actually kind of funny....but when an alternator goes bad...it feeds when sitting and recharges over time...that definitely seems like your problem bro

RonMexic07

try jumping the diagnostic plug??

egcivic

yea at the top of the forum it shows u how to check codes in ur car
and when my alternator was dying my gauge went haywire and my lites went super dimm
and of course ur car will die

wreckedhatch

thanx guys for the support i appreciate it, but was just wondering if it could also be my starter or something? I def aint driving my car to school today after hearing those horror stories

93civiccoupe

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wreckedhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanx guys for the support i appreciate it, but was just wondering if it could also be my starter or something? I def aint driving my car to school today after hearing those horror stories </TD></TR></TABLE>

i highly doubt its your starter uusualy you just hear a click when its your starter going bad but it has nothing to do with your car once its already running.

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93civiccoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a friend of mine had that same problem in his 96 civic. turns out to be a ground problem on his altinator and a fuse was blown. so check that and also run the codes on your car see what that pulls up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I noticed another problem with my car today, the windshield whipers take hecka long to start working, is this another sign of a bad alternator?

how will i tell if a fuse is blown? also i was looking at the fuse box and nothing is labeled for the alternator.

Anyone got a pic of what the ground looks like? sorry im a noob

egcivic

my car is like a mile away rite now so i realli cant take a picture, but the fuse should be on the drivers side of the engine bay by the battery, a little black box and the purpose of the fuses is labeled on the box

and the ground to the alternator should be on the alternator i beleive, im guessing one of the wires that comes off of it, but im not 100 percent sure so someone correct me if im wrong

but i had a whole crapload of problems wiht my alternators and used alternators that i bought (5 i think), so i jus got a new one with a warrenty and its been running flawlessly. so if your thinking about replacing it i would def suggest getting a new one if u have the money

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by egcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my car is like a mile away rite now so i realli cant take a picture, but the fuse should be on the drivers side of the engine bay by the battery, a little black box and the purpose of the fuses is labeled on the box

and the ground to the alternator should be on the alternator i beleive, im guessing one of the wires that comes off of it, but im not 100 percent sure so someone correct me if im wrong</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, i knew where the fuse box was but nothing is labeled for the alt. and mine is on the passenger side by the battery but thanx anywayz, post a pic if u can when u get your car back homie.

Dodger2940

Go to AUTOZONE and use there CEL reader. It should tell what is wrong with your car. Also its free.

joey1320

this is for 96 & up civics, just some info since it relates to the problem... i have not seen it on obd1 cars, sorry.

if you have an OBD2 car with the same symptoms:

the alternator output-speed sensor wire is scraping against your intake manifold bracket.(under the manifold, attaches to the manifold and the block) grounding out the wire and blowing the fuse for your alternator. (15amp fuse on drivers under dash box)

if you go to autozone for them to check your cel you will have 5 codes, all to do with the alternator. do NOT replace the alternator or battery yet, do it only after you have checked the wires and the fuse first.

i just did my 881,992,887,475,868 one of this and people always go and get the alternator replace at a corner shop and lose their money

what you can do is completely take off the stupid bracket and sparately wrap each wire with electrical tape to stop them from touching/grounding out... good luck!

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dodger2940 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Go to AUTOZONE and use there CEL reader. It should tell what is wrong with your car. Also its free.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Autozone doesnt do that anymore in the bay because of legal reasons, or at least thats what a worker told me

Thanx Joey for the advice, im bout to go check my wires and make sure there not touching and shorting out. And where is this FUSE because it isnt marked in the fuse box by the battery

joey1320

in the 96 and up is not in the under hood fuse box, is in the driver under dash fuse box. check all the fuses there and see if you get lucky because i don't have the service bulletin on me, is at work sorry...

now yors is a 92 so i 'm not sure if the bulletin will apply to your car...

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joey1320 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">in the 96 and up is not in the under hood fuse box, is in the driver under dash fuse box. check all the fuses there and see if you get lucky because i don't have the service bulletin on me, is at work sorry...

now yors is a 92 so i 'm not sure if the bulletin will apply to your car...</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea i dont think so, cause im not reading or seeing it, anyone know where it could be? im bout to go check inside my car under the steering wheel

egcivic

the acg (s) fuse is the alternator fuse

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1081265

dunno if u found it yet, hope that helps

dogbiscuit

ok you have a 92 hatch autozone can't read it they prolly only have a OBD2 reader, so under your glove box look for a green plug and jump it with a paperclip. turn your key and count the blinks that the CEL creates. there is a more thorough how to on this subject. long blinks mean 10 and short blinks mean 1 i think. then check the code chart. here's the link to the code reading trick https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1171263

my car had a cel for months before i finally fixed it. my problem was that my car would not start once it was warm so i had to spend an hour at the store or else i was sitting in the parking lot. $35 fix it was a water temp sensor. basically it would make my car think it was overheating and it would not start until the sensor was cool enough. it was Code 6 i think.

wreckedhatch

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dogbiscuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my car had a cel for months before i finally fixed it. my problem was that my car would not start once it was warm so i had to spend an hour at the store or else i was sitting in the parking lot. $35 fix it was a water temp sensor. basically it would make my car think it was overheating and it would not start until the sensor was cool enough. it was Code 6 i think.</TD></TR></TABLE>

wow, i hope thats my problem, but there must of been a misunderstanding somewhere because Autozone wont check my car period and i dont have a device to check for codes, but thanx guys

also thanx egcivic, i dont think my fuse box looks like that but lemme check, im bout to post pics of my box and alternator to help out with clues

hatchi

start up your car then take off the negative terminal on the battery if the engine dies then its alternator

JeRkBeBOT

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hatchi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">start up your car then take off the negative terminal on the battery if the engine dies then its alternator</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's one easy way to check tha alternator...that's how I found out my alternator is bad

Syndacate

"hell yeah dude...I had one go before...RIGHT before it completly died, my whole ******* gauge cluster went HAYWIRE, like started spazzing, flashing, my rpms shot up, speedo shot up, it was actually kind of funny....but when an alternator goes bad...it feeds when sitting and recharges over time...that definitely seems like your problem bro"

ya it does, I remember when the alternator went on my benz, it looked like close and counters of the third kind inside my car O.o

and yeah, it def sounds like an alternator prob. Check the grounds, but next step would be get a refurbished and install ASAP

wreckedhatch

awsome suggestions and help guys, thanx will def note some things i heard here with the mechanic