92 accord, when i went to leave work tonight i had to jump-start it. No lights were left on. When i was driving home, i'd switch gears & the rpm, & speedo gauges would fall to the bottom & my ABS, SRS gauges would light up, i quickly hit the gas & before it could stall. Then whenever i'd turn the AC on my rpm's would drop & it feel like it was going to stall. I tried to charge my battery for 3-hours and my DVOM says its at 13.88volts.

Battery bad? or is my alternator bad?

Got any ideas?

 

If you are getting 14V your alternator is probably OK, The first thing I would do is remove battery terminals and shine up posts and clamps with some sandpaper and reinstall, also check the ground connection to the frame and make sure it is not corroded and bolt is tight. If that does not help I would suspect battery is the problem. Check cells with a hydrometer to see if they are charged.

 

just because the alt reads 14v doesnt mean its good, it still needs to be load tested. Go to autozone,advance auto parts, or even oreilys if they are in your area. they give FREE battery and alt testing.

 

14 volts does not guarantee it is 100% good, but 12 volts guarantees it is 100% bad. And it is much easier than removing it from your car and bumming a ride with somebody else to AZ to test it. It is the place to start troubleshooting.

 

to find out 100% whats wrong you want to have it tested by machine. I would place my bet on bad alternator from what is described here. The op stated the car would start ONLY IF I JUMP IT.

 

I had the same problem. Swapped the alternator for my fix. More than likely thats what it's gonna be. Problem is your voltage regulator is trying to regulate a crappy alternator and a battery thats not getting a correct charge so it has to reroute the current to more vital functions to allow your car to limp home, instead of sending to accessories and even the tach. My alternator tested good and it was still defective. Test the battery first and then they can test the alternator with it on the car running. Should be around 60amps I believe. Mines was at 20. cHECK your belt deflection too, make sure it's not too loose. And also if you look at the wire that you mount on the alt not the connector the other one take the protector off and observe it. If theres lots of corrosion that could prevent a good supply. GL let me know how it goes

 

I cleaned the lead to my alt. it was corroded. My tach and radio went out on the way home from school today, the horn didnt work also. I made it home, turned it off, tried to start, and sure enough the battery was dead. After cleaning the contact on the alt, i jumped it and checked the voltage. It jumped around 12.9 to 13.1 with it spiking at 13.5 when i reved it up a bit. I guess its time for a new alternator...