Hi All,

So, this past weekend, I found myself on a highway about 50 miles from home at one in the morning. Here's a short story of what happened over a course of about 30-40 minutes. I'd been driving for about an hour at that point, and my ABS light suddenly comes on. "Hmm... that's no good." Next? My radio shuts off. Next up? The instruments. Tach, sped and thermo all decide that it'd be a great idea to just flop around, spinning from min to max without any discernable pattern. The odometer even actually stopped reading the mileage (and no, it's not digital)! Eventually, the other instruments just died as well. So, as I eke closer and closer to home, the lights begin to dim to the point that reading anything is a joke, including the clock. I came to my first full stop, and as I accelerated away, it chugged through all gears, almost like it would with a spark plug. I pulled into my driveway, and bam! Dead. 100% dead.

Next morning, it starts. Albeit with some hesitancy, but it starts. I take it to the shop, and they test the alternator--no problems. Even warmed up with a full load on it, no problem. They claim it was the battery, which they said was total junk.

Here's my question--is this REALLY indicative of the battery? I'm no expert (not by a long shot) but last time I checked, the battery shouldn't be the cause of the above problems... and simultaneously, it seems to be common sense that if the alternator WAS having problems, of COURSE the battery would be junk at that point. Any ideas?

Thanks

Jamie

 

Check the battery terminals themselves for corrosion as well as a strong connection to the battery and follow the wires from
there to make sure there are no loose connections anywhere else.
Also check for loose ground cables as well.

 

Thanks Chris! No corrosion, nothing noted in the connection on the battery; I just picked it up (01 SH, by the way) and the tests didn't really show a major variance. Ripples were nominal even under high RPM and the battery WAS crap (66% after an hour+ on the charger), but of course it's going to be in bad shape, especially if it's been compensating for an unknown amount of time, right? I don't think they checked grounds. I'm not diagnostically inclined enough to check them myself, so I'm taking it to my Honda mechanic tomorrow--there's no good reason why the battery would be taking an extra load from the alternator, especially not to that degree... if that was the intent of the design, there'd be a lot of p***ed off '01 owners stranded on the side of the road.

Jamie

 

On most Hondas if the battery is dead the car will not run. You can unhook your battery on your Prelude when the car is running even if it (the battery) is good the car will die.

I would get a new battery and then double check all your connections.