I have a 97 dx and I am having a stressfull time with it. About a year ago my car would just die while I was driving. My lights would dim, and it would just die. The speedometer stopped working. I take it to a shop, they tell me it's my battery, and they put a new one in. Anyway, the whole shop thing was a disaster, so much money was wasted. I mean the car worked fine, but I was raped.

Two weeks ago I run over a puddle. My speedo stops working, and the next day my car dies. It has the same problem again, I drive, everything dims, but when I shift into second gear, everything comes alive. I have changed my altenator, and I don't want to go back to the shop. I think it may be my ELD, and I have read on another forum that some bare wires rubbing against a bracket could cause a short.

I need some help, and I hope someone can.

 

How many miles on the car?

 

216,000

 

Is fuse 15 blown? Read this:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-029e.pdf

 

check the wire that runs from the alternator to the battery/fuse block...check the whole wire...or check the resistance of it with an ohm meter...or just replace it with some 6ga wire from a parts store

 

Thanks Ron, I am going to check that out. Does anyone think my ELD could be blown too?

 

I had this problem on my 97EX. It turned out to be that one of the ground wires was loose. Check them all and retighten them.

 

Is there any way you can go into more detail about the ground wires? Like which wires, and where they are located.

 

Besides the neg battery cable, there is a ground cable that goes from the transmission to the frame rail (passenger side), and another from the PS pump bracket (or the valve cover if you don't have PS) to above the driver's side headlight.

 

mine was the neg battery cable that was loose. I mean it wasnt really loose but it wasnt tight enough to make a good ground.

 

also check to see if your distributor is in good working condition not coroded or anything i had the same problem with mine i would drive it and out of now where the car would just die came out to be i needed an new distributor and alternator

 

Check all wires and/or fuses. Also, does it have an aftermarket alarm? Check the wiring on that and make sure the brain of the alarm is still good. My Uncle-In-Law had a very similar problem and he found out it was the alarm, took it out and he has not had the problem since.