sheldon911

Ok seriously i just moved to Portland , im trying to work 2 jobs to survive and my car takes a huge dump on me . So this is whats going on .

Symptoms -

Car died multiple fast clicks when i try to start it
Runs for 5 mins after battery charged
Right before dieing RPM metter cuts out
Power windows dont work
Bad Idle
non responsive gas

What iv tried-
Charged battery
Tested Battery
Changed Distrubutor
changed rotor in distributor cap

Seemed to fix problem but happened again after 15 mins of driving.

After trying to start it twice the battery is completly drained.

Im thinking its bad wiring but i want that to be my last conclusion
i was thinking maybe my alternator but the symptons are weird for that

if i cant figure this prob out soon im gona be losing one of my jobs
so any help would be appreciated guys
im bad with electrical stuff and dont have a clue where to start .

hOnda_hiEn

could be a bad battery.. that wont hold a charge.. or a bad alternator not charging the battery..

redlinetuning

have your alternator tested. Or if you have a multimeter, test the battery when the car is running, and test again when car is off.

Take the power connection from the battery off while the car is running. If car dies out when taking connection, then chances are you have a bad alt.

99civicsiguy

sounds like an altrinator or battery

sheldon911

See the battery seems good i had it tested
so the only other thing would be maybe the alternator
but i have such weird symptoms for a alternator it seems like
why would my RPM meter just flake out 5 mins before car die's ?
and same with windows.. wouldent it all slowly just die at once ?

im gonoa do the alternator test tho when i can get back to it .
i ment to do it yestorday but i figured it was just a bad rotor and distrubutor
screwing up my timing .

any other idea's guys ? just so i can make a list..

99civicsiguy

it could be that the altrinator is still making power, just not making enough power for everything and it just gets worse and you lose electronics as the battery dies. and if you got your battery tested at kragen or something like that sometimes they don't know wtf they are talking about

i think it could only be your battery or altrinator, maybe your connections but i highly doubt it

sheldon911

I hope its my alternator i need to try to get it home so i can find out
its 2 miles down the road
if i can jump start it and get it up a hill i think i can coast down the rest and bump start it down the rest of the hill if it dies .

anyone live in portland ?

Former User

When the engine dies, do the headlights work and do the dash warning lights remain ON?

Have you cleaned and tightened the battery posts, connectors, and the battery ground wire attached to the engine bay?

sheldon911

Ya the headlights im not sure cuz there blown out .
Forgot to mention my headlights blew out 3 days ago

But the engine lights remain same with the car beeebing
but after 2 times of trying to start it
it turns over slower like a dead battery .

waaBAAH

alternator is draining your battery or possibly a loose connection on your alternator.

to clarify the battery really only has one purpose.. to start the vehicle. you can literally take out the battery of the car once it is started and the vehicle will still run. (dont do it though due to your ecu needing a good ground and you can possibly arc somehting inside your ecu, but just take my word for it.) only other use of the battery is to apply power to help store stuff like your favoritwe radio station or CEL and such.

as for your alternator it generates power via belt routing to your vehicle. this is needed otherwise you would run out of power from a battery. you can actually get quite far on a fully charged battery but on battery power alone your car will eventually die.

right before your car dies your vehicle is at a low power state..proably around 6-9 volts of power when it should see 13.5 volts running. keep in mind all your gauges have some for of electricity going to them. if those gauges (rpm needl and such) dont have 12 plus volts they might start to flip out. not enough power to keep the correct voltage.

you probably need an alternator and i wouldnt be surprised if you need a battery as well. car batteries are not meant to be fully drained and recharged just to be fully drained again and this greatly decreases the life of the battery. it might hold now when tempatures are warm but as soon as it will get cold this winter you might have problems starting since cold weather puts twice as much strain trying to start your car.

sheldon911

Thanks alot that was very helpfull
I do know that the batterys only puprose is to star the car i just cant get the symptoms like i went back to my car.. got it jumped and it drove for another 5 mins . but i just cant help but fealing like there may be somthing else wrong with it . Im ordering another alternator tonight hopfully i can get it on later today . Think the head lights blowing have anything to do with anything .

ej1love

if it jumped its not the alternator, jump it and take off the negative terminal, if it runs u just need a new battery. same thing happened to me this week.

sileightys13

iTrader: (1)

BAD BATTERY FTL!!!

jtmartin96civic

get your battery "load tested" mine was showing 13.3 volts... but under load... it dropped to a measley 2.xx volts... far from sufficient to run the car.

bigboss13

Take the car to a Checker/Schucks/Kragen/Murray or O'Reilly (all the same company, depending on where you live some CSK stores may have been changed over to O'Reilly) and have them test the battery, starter and alternator on the vehicle. After those tests give you an answer take the battery out of the car and have them test it on their good charger/tester. That thing will do a thorough load test and attempt at charging and will give you an answer at whether it will need replacement or not.

General rule of thumb: Battery should put out 12.6V give/take, while on car with alterantor working 14.6V. If battery is lower suspect a bad battery. If car running/alternator running isnt at 14.6V suspect an alternator.

At the very least getting all that done will tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that your basic starting/charging system is or isn't the problem which greatly narrows it down.