Alright ladies and gents here is a pretty good issue for you good troubleshooters out there. Im seeing similar forums but not quite dead on. It all started with driving to work car started leaning out, look at the fuel pressure and its at 50 instead of the usual 60. I then turn the car off and try to start it up and nada...here are some of the symptoms: headlights flicker at random intervals, car dies when positive terminal from battery is removed, getting 13.2 volts from the battery, reading 11 ohms from positive battery terminal to alternator, hondata ecu has red LED when car won't crank over, car will start just fine with a jump, car will start just fine if I let it sit on a charger for about 30 minutes, weird random electric issues such as turbo timer backlight staying on (but no digits) after car is shut down, and sometimes hear some relays clicking like crazy when it won't crank over.

I am pretty good with troubleshooting, I am an aviation electrician on the biggest piece of crap aircraft the military owns (SH-60B). So whatever kind of advice or troubleshooting techniques you got just throw em at me, I just can't figure this out because it seems like so many different things messed up at the same time. The possibilities I can think of right now is....obviously a bad alternator, bad ecu, bad grounds, bad main relay, if you can think of anything else to check out let me know

 

personally its near impossible to start throwing any substantial ideas at you.

have you checked the turbo timer's wiring?

i'd do a parasitic drain test to start with as well.

 

turbo timer works fine once the car is jumped, it just stays on when car is in its crazy mode. And I don't think I have a parasitic drain because the battery still has 13 volts while the car is in crazy mode.

 

bump

 

you'll be looking for an excessive consumption of current. (amps)

other wise a bad ground/connection somewhere.

it's probably really simple and when you find it it'll be like.. "thats it? what the hell"

 

haha yep thats the way these always are. I am wondering if the alternator could be doing all of this?

 

What year/engine Civic?

Sounds like a ground wire problem. Have you checked the G3 ground wire running between the engine and transmission? If it's loose, corroded, or disconnected, the starter won't crank the engine. You might also want to check the battery ground wire and the one on the thermostat housing.

 

96 civic, jdm b18c...if its any type of bad ground why would it start just fine with a jump? It almost does seem like it could be a bad ground though because it does happen in random intervals, and the whole head light flickering, and maybe when i disconnected the positive terminal the car shut off because it also had a bad ground at the same time.

 

1) Check whether 7.5A fuse 15 (alternator, etc.) is blown. Use this method. Any CEL codes?

2) The jump provides the ground.

3) Avoid ever disconnecting the battery with the engine running. The battery buffers the system from voltage spikes that can damage sensitive electrical components.

 

No codes, haven't checked the fuse, i know it won't start but would a car run with an intermittent ground?

 

Not sure what you are asking. Your car wont start or run without a jump, right? Can you push start the engine?

 

bam! blown alternator fuse, im such an idiot haha, who woulda knew such a simple thing would cause such a headache....thanks Ron.

 

If fuse 15 blows again, read this TSB.

 

X2

when i wrecked my car. this fuse was blown.. and took me forever to find the problem.. lol.. car would start fine until i revved the motor.. then lights would flicker and rpm gauge would go all crazy.. all cause of this fuse..