so I was driving and my car started losing power slowly ( radio, dash lights, turn signals, ect.) then i got home and turned the car off and tried starting it again and it was dead. I assumed it was my alternator so i replaced that and my battery. My battery light was still on and i drove it for a little bit and its started losing power again like before, my radio shut off first then headlights and everything else. When i turned the car off and then tried to restart it i got nothing. I checked my fuses and ground wires and everything is fine. When i hooked up jumper cables i noticed my radio turned on without having my key in the ignition so i also unhooked my stereo and that didnt work either.The car will start only with jumper cables hooked up, as soon as i take them off and try to start it, it wont. Any ideas?!

 

sounds like your alternator took a dump. Jump the car and get a dmm out and check voltage coming from the alternator.

 

i replaced the alternator and even took my old one and got it tested and it was working fine

 

Your car should run with no battery if the alt is working. Use your meter and see if any voltage is coming off of the alt. It's probably not also check all grounds. They are needed to complete the circuit.

 

did the check how much voltage is coming out of the alternator while the car is running?

 

Im having a similar problem. Brand new alt installed, drains battery from full charge to shutting off dead in 15 miles. Im at a total loss.

 

If neither of you guys added anything new to your car (car alarm, stereo, gauges, blink lights)

I am going out on a limb and think that both of you replaced your alt from autozone/napa/pep boys.


Buy a OEM alt with a new battery. Check your grounds, fuses. Should be fine after that.

 

its going to be your alternator, dont get a rebuilt one or those cheap autozone ones, same thing happened to me until i bought a new oem alternator it was fixed

 

check your grounds first before buying parts. mine did the same thing

 

Same here. I'm a knew member so not fully up to speed yet. Driving along then no speedo, no radio, abs, eps and engine management light on. Managed to roll onto my drive. Serviced just before Christmas and was told battery in really poor condition. Replaced battery this afternoon with a Bosch model. Eps, abs and engine management lights out but still battery light showing. Took for spin and wouldn't vtec for good 5 mins. Too late to buy fuses at this time. Is this my first port of call before I have the alternator checked or can any 1 give any advice? All will be appreciated guys

 

Yeahp!
Check,
-Battery
-Alternator
-Grounds
-Alternator belt (correct tighten)
-Damper is not spining properly

 

I just had this problem 2 days ago. If you haven't fixed it yet or for someone experiencing this or who will experience this in the future.

My battery was brand new, alternator was good as I checked with a volt meter. If your gauges go hay wire and start jumping around while driving...it's your GROUND!

After checking all my grounds and removing them and sanding them down to make sure they have a good connection, I noticed the most important ground on the alternator itself was very loose. Tightened everything up, boosted the car with jumper cables, left it running for about 15 minutes then took it for a nice 30 min cruise, came back home, turned it off, turned it on again and all is well again.

 

Dropping off at a friends garage 2moz. Wil let u know how it goes. Having new cat, centre exhaust and after cat O2 sensor done so he is going to look whilst a it's there. Thanks guys

 

Well put another alternator on it and it was sent back to suppliers as they thought it was faulty. Suppliers tested and said was fine. So my alternator won't charge. Any ideas.

 

When the car does run, is your cluster jumping around and not working at times?

 

Sorry to sound stupid what's the cluster ( gauges)? This all happened in 1 day. Everything was fine all instruments were fine. Speedo revs etc. then all of a sudden lost abs eps speedo and battery light on and cut out as described in earlierl post. Since then I had new battery on and car ticks over but is only running on battery. Alternator not charging so have been advised to send to auto electrician. Mechanic has checked fuses and voltages

 

I'm really really leaning towards the grounds. Ok, so on the alternator, there is a ground with a rubber cover over it. Pull the cover up so you see the nut. Check to see if the nut is loose. If it's loose, obviously tighten it. If it's already tight, then loosen it. Pull the ground off and sand it with a little sandpaper. If it's loose and you tighten it, then you're gonna need to boost your car with jumper cables so it turns on, after it turns on, let it idle for like 15 minutes, then take it for a nice 20 minute cruise so the alternator charges the battery. After the 20 minute cruise. Turn the car off, chill for like 20 seconds then give her a crank and hope for the best.

The symptoms that you're experiencing is the same symptoms that my car was experiencing and it ended up being my ground on the alternator was loose. Plus make sure you have a ground going from the frame to the battery, one going from the frame to the transmission, under the dizzy, one going from the frame to the valve cover. And make sure to take all those grounds off and sand them down with a piece of sandpaper and also sand down the frame of the car where the grounds are connected, just to make sure they are getting a good connection.

 

^^ Makes me wonder about everyone that has said they replaced their alternator...did you install the new one correctly?

 

As mentioned, it's probably a grounding problem.

Anytime you have an "electrical" issue, the first thing to do is to "redo" the main grounds, DO NOT just eyeball them, [disconnect, clean and reconnect]

Your main grounds are the batt. neg.(-) post, batt, neg.(-) cable clamp, batt. to chassis ground and chassis to engine ground, [this is a single cable on a lot Honda/Acura cars].

Even if grounding is not your problem, it costs nothing to redo them, it never hurts to redo the main ground, [more so the older the car is] and must be done to elliminate the grounds as the possible problem.

The operative words here are "it costs you nothing" and it is troubleshooting 101. when you have electrical issues of any kind. 94

 

Hey guys finally got my car back and running yesterday evening. In the end two alternators were tried and car wouldn't work. Ending in having my original sent to auto electrician to be refurb. And guess what.........it works. So it was the grounds after all. Thanks guys, saved me money and helped with the problem. BIG THANKS HONDA TECH

 

That definitely sounds like the hot wire that runs to the fusebox and charges your battery, not a ground. The alternator is usually just grounded through the bracket/block w/ no wire. What car though? Maybe I'm wrong.

 

There we go. Glad to hear you got it resolved.