Forgive the long story but I can't make sense of this, car is a Y7 98 Civic 5sp
The car doesn't get driven much so it's been on a trickle charger for a few weeks, I unplugged it to take a spin and here's what went down
Battery light on dash was on immediately
car drove perfect for about a mile then died in a manner that would have made me swear fuel pump, but that battery light was telling me otherwise
pushed it home got it to start a few times for a few seconds, couldn't bump start it while coasting
Took the battery to 2 different places and it tested 13volts and almost 100 cold cranking amps than it's rated at. I assume this rules out battery and alternator.
New in the last 500 miles, distributor, cap, rotor, plug wires, and alternator.
I really want to say fuel pump, but that battery light is throwing me off, could I just be chasing a bad ground somewhere?

 

How do you test a battery and rule out the alternator?

 

Main relay !! Pull it out, check the solder joints on the relay pins ---- they may need resoldered . ( it could save you about $50 and keep you from getting stranded , again ) reinstall and try it out ......

 

I just don't see how the car could die and the battery still be fully charged and it be alternator, I'm probably missing something, hence the thread

DAS! I like that! Good call, I think I even have a spare to try out, thanks dude!

 

The battery light is an indicator of a charging system problem. Start by testing the alternator and its connections.

 

Ahhh...thank you for connecting the dots for me Ron, I hadn't considered something other than the state of the battery could set off the light let alone kill the car in that situation. Add it to the to do list, man I hate removing alternators on 6th gens with power steering.

 

Ron's in the lead so far, I put a new main relay in and it started and ran fine, but battery light remains. Put the old relay in and it started and ran fine too lol. Interesting side note; the battery light goes off over 5k rpm. I wasn't confident enough to try to get it to an Auto Zone to check the alt without someone to follow me and help push again, but I think that's next.