car is a 1990 integra gs mostly stock. 5 spd has 201k on the clock. no cels

ok so this problem has really been getting to me the last two weeks. it all started one night i was driving home from a local mountain and my battery light flashes and then stays on. my lights go dim and i go, great i need a new alternator. i did some research and got a new alternator and then put that in last night. my battery is new also. so i go to start my car last night after putting in the alternator, so i jump it with my friends car, since my battery was dead. after started, we disconnect the cables and my car shuts off. we jump it again and let it run connected for about 10 mins. then we disconnect it, my car runs fine, everythings good. i let it run for about 35 mins to make sure itd start for me before school this morning. so i get up this morning, go start my car, and start to head out to school (it was about -2 degrees this morning). so i notice my battery light is still on, so i think, ok, my battery isnt up there in voltage yet so thats why the light is still on. so i drive about 4 miles, and my cd player shuts off, my battery light keeps getting dimmer, and im like great. so my car shuts off totally and i manage to pull into this big driveway.

so after i get out of school, i go back to my car and loosen the tensioner bolt on the alternator thinking that my belt was a little too loose so my alternator wasnt working efficiently. after i get the belt nice and tight (a little less than 1/2 inch of play with pressure) i jump it and let it run for a bit and then disconnect it and it seems to be running fine. i drive to my dads house ( about 15 mins) and let it run for like 10 mins and then it just shuts off. my ecu (i think) starts clicking for like a minute pretty loudly like 3 times every second. after its done, i try to start my car again and it didnt turn over at all. about 10 mins after that i try to start it again and its starts no problem and runs for probably 3 mins and then dies again. still, throwing no codes

my battery is reading 11.84 volts and it wont start again. i do not know what the problem is. please any input would be appreciated. anything else, things i left out, just ask.

thanks,
steven

 

My car was doing weird things when my Sears DieHard battery gave out on me, exactly 3 years to the DAY after I bought it! The battery was bad but I ended up getting a free replacement (very end of the free replacement warranty period).

Even though it seems to be alternator-related, it could actually be the battery.

 

yeah the battery i bought from wal-mart like a week ago. the thing that confuses me is that my battery has a good voltage reading and my car wont start. i dont think that it is the starter, though, because it starts up fine any other time.

edit: and it doesnt explain why my car dies, my alternator is brand new.

 

hmm yea when my battery was bad, the car didn't die, it just wouldn't start. The battery read pretty low voltage, too.

 

could be many things,check battery,maybe u got a bad alternator it happens,check all grounds make sure they are TIGHT/

 

make sure your terminals are tight and clean. sisters civic had a probem starting once and the battery tested good. turned out the terminal was just a tad loose, enough to pull off, and it was giving a poor connection.

 

I agree with everyone else, check the wirings mainly ground. Seems your car will work when idling, but fails during driving. Sounds like wires can't handle the load with car moving (needing more spark, radio on, fan on, etc...)?

 

Agreed take ur car to a auto zone or some place get ur battery tested and ur alternator tested check all ur grounds and make sure ur termanals are clean along with all ur ground connections. Let us know if that turns up anything

 

thanks for all the replies everyone, it is appreciated, believe me. as soon as i get a chance im going to brush off the battery terminals, tighten them down pretty snug, and try it again. the thing that has been stumping me the most though is that my battery light stays on below about 2600 rpms. i failed to mention this in my original post. above 2600 rmps, in gear or in nuetral, my battery light will go off. i dont know if this is substantial, i was thinking maybe i have some corrosion forming in my main harness in my bay. i dont know though, ill retighten and clean my terminals and see if that helps. im going to have to wait until tomorrow as my car is about 20 mins away from where i live and i have no transportation. thanks again

 

If you rev the car to 3 grand the battary light stays off?

Everytime you get an alt. you need to have them take it to thier bench tester and test it. The part store DOES NOT test the altenators before they sell them and most of them are rebuilt. I would take the altenatory and have it tested. ALSO test your battary. Those are simple and quick. After that I would test the cicuit to the alt. ALSO check the altenator fuse. I dont know if you have one, but I had the same problem and chased down ALL my wires and so for and then looked in the fuse box and there was a fuse to the alt. blown. Which could be caused by a BAD previous alt. so check that....

 

I can never find an older post when I need it.

The ground cable that goes from the battery to the frame (near the strut tower on an integra) may have internal corrision.

 

i just went through this ordeal with a buddy of mine. he went out bought a battery. still no go, bought an alternator still no go. so he calls me i go out there, attempt to jump it no go. so i hook the negative to the frame alas she starts. soo that told me one thing check for loose grounds and also for corrosion in the ground wire. found loose connection and a whole lot of corrosion, so i broke out the coca-cola poured it on the corrosion the scrubbed it with a wire brush and the problem is history. LOOK FOR CORROSION ITS THAT WHITE STUFF BUT IF YOU BLOW ON IT TO CLEAR THE AREA OF IT CLOSE YOUR EYES THEN BLOW ON IT, ITS LIKE TOXIC ****.

 

One other area that has not been mentioned is the ground for the alt. The bracket that holds the alt is the ground also. Make sure the area between the bracket and the block is clean too.

 

ill check the alternator fuse, i didnt know that there was one. yes if i rev it to 3 grand the battery light will go off. ill check my ground and positive for corrosion real close. lol yes i know what corrsion looks like, ive been around cars for a while. and im pretty sure that my new alternator mounted to the bracket pretty well. thanks for your help ill work on this tomorrow

 

Sounds like the alt is the culprit. The faster it spins, the more voltage it puts out so that explains why it takes the 2600 rpm's for the light to go out. Up until that point, it isn't putting out enough voltage.

Even if your battery was toast and your alt was good, you could still drive a manual so I don't think your battery is the culprit. You may have fried it by now though so I would suggest getting both the alt and the battery tested. If you have a multimeter, you can do a quick test yourself by starting the car and checking the voltage on the batt terminals. They should be between 13.5 and 14.4 if the alt is healthy. While you're doing this, I would connect a battery cable from the frame to the negative post and see if your voltage goes up. If it does, that would suggest a ground is the problem.


Just in case it is a ground, a quick way to test is to hook a jumper cable to the "ear" on the alternator and the other end to the frame. That will create a solid ground (make sure it's touching metal and not paint) and let you know if your problem is a ground with the alternator.

Make sure you check back in and let us know what solved it.

 

i know how alternators work. i did test my battery. about 14.45 volts running and 11.84 standing 10 mins after my car was off. so thats why i think my alternator is good, because my battery has correct voltage.

but it doesnt look like i can work on my car today, its supposed to snow 8 inches and i have to plow and i have no way to get to my dads.

 

If you know how it works, it seems like you would have tested all this at the beginning and solved the problem by now. Sheesh, I'm done.

 

I have had to repair CB radios, which worked fine when the vehicle was at idle.

Then, when the vehicle was moving, the voltage would drop. The radio could Receive fine, but the user tried to Transmit, with this reduced voltage, strange things would occur to his dashboard indicators.

I decided to replace the power wires and as I pulled them out, the insulation broke, revealing a Green FUZZ, 2 feet from the end of the wires. The GREEN FUZZ had disolved the copper wires.

The fix was replacing the wires that provided 12v to the radio. The insulation on the power wires had been compromised and moisture caused a GREEN FUZZ to grow, inside the insulation.

I think that your short ground wire that connects from your battery to your frame, has some of this GREEN FUZZ in it.

Coil up your jumper cables and connect the black end to a bare metal spot in your engine compartment and connect the other black end of the jumper cables to the Negative of the battery. Do not connect the Red ends to anything. Secure the jumper cables with tie wraps or electrical tape, so they do not vibrate out of position and fall thru your engine compartment.

Take the car for a test drive and try to duplicate your trouble. You do not have to remove the suspect ground cable, for this proceedure.

Good Luck

 

alright so ive been busy the last few days but figured out some things. my alternator is only putting out 10.54 volts at every rpm. it was brand new. but my battery light still goes off above 2600 rpms. so i think that my new alternator is bad and i need another one. so unless i here otherwise i am going to order another one.

 

wow no one mention about the battery fues or the alt fues you should check these two really common on honda

 

alright sorry i havent watched this thread. but i got another alternator and that was the problem car is running great. thanks