i had my AC compressor changed last week b/c it died. The mech didnt disconnect the battery when he did the work.

One day after i picked it up, it died on me. no codes, but the oil light came on. motor was cranking fine and when it started, sounded strong. the tach and mileage gauges were erratic and the car kept dying. finally, car died, and wouldnt start. when trying to start, the FI relay was making a crackling noise. i assumed that not disconnecting the battery fried something.

so, brought it back. 3 days later, he tells me its b/c my battery is dead. battery was dead only from my cranking it so much. anyway, i go along with it, he changes battery. also tells me its a ground problem, and because battery is in the trunk, the ground isnt connected to the right spot, under the hood, and thats whats wrong.

anyway, he changed the battery, tells me everything is fine. i drive a few blocks, same problem. chug it back, and tell him same problem. it didnt completely cut out on me, but did almost die a few times. when it did, the engine light would flicker on, and the relay was going bananas, clicking like crazy.

anyone have any ideas? my insane amount of anger seems to be stopping me from thinking clearly, and can only assume his not originally disconnecting the batt caused a short somewhere, maybe as simple as in the relay.

thanks

 

He shorted something out, that much I can tell you.

Was this guy a reputable shop mechanic, or just some hole in the ground shop?

And it does not matter where your battery is grounded to, just so long as it is hooked up properly, and it is ground to a solid bare metal spot on the chassis.

Wierd.

 

i agree, a ground is a ground. the whole damn car is a ground.

anyway, got me about reputation, guess we will find out as time goes on. im new to this area, so picked a local shop out of a few i drove by. there is a honda dealer up the road if worse comes to worse. i just need ammo to prove it was his fault. i maintain my cars very well, so this untimely problem seems too coincidental.

thx for the reply, puts me a bit at ease.

 

What year and how many miles on the car?

You may be able to get a "courtesy" checkup by the dealership if it is not too far out of warranty. They will be able to at least tell you what is wrong with it.

If they can't, take it to an ASE certified electrical specialist. They should be able to do more for you than you may think.

But there again, this is why I love doing my own work. I know it is being done right. And if it isn't right, I have no worries but to blame myself.

 

its an 02 with ~75k miles. bit out of warranty i guess.
pisses me off b/c i left the service manual with him with tagged pages showing what i think is wrong, and how to troubleshoot voltages.

only reason i got the ac comp done there is b/c i couldnt get to it without dropping the subframe, which is too hard to do on my back with jacks.
<sigh>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Leo95SE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">only reason i got the ac comp done there is b/c i couldnt get to it without dropping the subframe, which is too hard to do on my back with jacks.
&lt;sigh&gt;
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can't be mad at ya. I would not have done it by myself either without an engine cradle while I was under the car.

But keep me informed personally, I would like to know how this comes out.

Take it to the dealership and at least see what they tell you.

 

why is the battery in the trunk ?

 

you might look and see if he butcher up any of the wires around the a/c compressor going to the switch....... just a though

 

battery in truck for weight distribution ( ) and b/c i made a custom short ram intake that sits where the battery was. was intending to track it a bit more than ive been able to. marriage does that i guess.

 

for those interested, the final diagnosis was a ground problem. there was too much resistance from my speed sensor to engine ground point. acura said they just cleaned and retightened the ground, but it all looks the same. ill guess ill have to make a habit to clean my grounds more often, a quick sanding of the bolts, etc prolly cant hurt, esp if they are this sensitive.

this most likely also caused the FI relay to go crazy and make the car die.

thx for all the help