OK, today I was idling, and the battery light came on. The battery is just a few months old, so i'm thinking alternator

I drive the car home eith all of the accesories off to save power, ad it make it home, with is more than 30 minutes away. When I get home, it's still acting like nothing is wrong, it starts up several more times, like it has a full charge. In fact, I can only tell something is wrong at all because of three things..

1st... the idiot light, never did go out...

2nd, there is a rattling coming from under the hood, but I can't tell exactly from where, but it's the belt side of the engine

3rd, and this is the strange thing.. My power steering doesn't work. I checked, and the belt is still there, so I have no idea why the electrical problem would cause my steering to go out.

It's a `1990 Civic LX with the 1.5 and a 5 speed

Can anybody help em with a starting place to look so I can fix it?

thanks
Mark

 

K, update,..

I went out and started the car, got a flash light to see if the belt was flopping...

It wasn't turning! Some how the entire pully isn't turning at all..

What could cause that, but it does explain why the power steering is not working.

Please help

 

OK, so how can I drive a car 30 miles, but the pully isn't turning?


Modified by monsterweights at 3:06 PM 2/28/2007

 

I had that problem the alternator seized up. But it only took like 30 seconds after starting to make a cloud of rubber smoke before the belt burnt up. maybe your belt is loose so its not burning up, or maybe its not tensioned properly and its just loose so its not turning. The battery should have at least a 30 min reserve so you wouldn't notice anything yet.

 

THe alternator s not siezed up, in fact I can move the belt quite easily by hand, THe pully is slightly wobbly, and it spins almost free too.

Any suggestions?

 

check the codes!
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1901557

 

so your crank pulley isn't turning?