I am having some power issues with my 01' prelude. I replaced the battery last week and the alternator was replaced about a year ago. If I don't drive the car for about a 24 hours, I can't get power i.e. remote lock won't work, lights won't turn on, car won't turn on. The only way to get the car going is if I jump the car, but if the car isn't in use for about 24 hours, it's back to square one.

After taking a look at the wiring, I see the electrical tape near the battery is coming off and I can see the loose wires. I'm going to try to get some new electrical tape to cover the naked wire, but if that doesn't fix the issue, I'm a bit lost as to where I am losing power.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Sometimes alternators just go bad even if they are new. I have had a couple go bad that were new on different cars. Jump it and take it to get the alternator tested at an auto parts store. Should tell you

 

Replace the battery cables if they are coming apart. A bad wire will cause the same symptoms. I would start there.

 

You probably have a draw of some type in the system, which may come from that wire, but could be from anywhere on the car. Maybe do some testing on draw when the car is off, to narrow down where you have an issue.

 

Take the car to an Advance Auto Parts, they can do a charging system test on the car as well as check to see if you have any draws when the car is off

 

as suggested above take it to auto-zone and load test the battery, But from NYS experience this cold weather KILLS batteries.

 

Do a parasitic drain test, advanced auto won't do it, and or won't do it right.

 

 

good suggestion ^
http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

 

Thanks for advice and link guys - very helpful. I bought a multimeter and will do the testing tonight.

So last night, I was driving home from work and I noticed the battery light coming on the dashboard. Shortly after, the speedometer stopped working, interior lights turned off, and then the car completely shut off. I had to wait until a friend came and helped me re-jump my car. I had to redo the process about 2 more times until I finally got home.

Could this be a failed alternator?

 

Yes, could be one of several things. Prolly most common

 

parts store alternators are almost always bad out of the box...it takes a few tries to get a good one

this is almost guaranteed alternator

 

autozone will test your starter, alternator and battery for free. they should have a new machine where it prints out your results. its awesome.

id buy in a oem honda alternator.

 

it would be best to get a Denso reman from rockauto or if you got a parts store that sells one...it's the same as Honda OEM but without the high price

also parts store alternator testers aren't good for Hondas since Hondas use a dual mode system and they don't know how to test both modes ... my first one was bad out of the box with Autozone before and it tested fine with them... when in low output it wasn't producing enough power

 

Alternator is bad. Remove it and get it tested. If its bad just buy oem one. after you install the alternator and check to see your charging voltage. It should be around 13.4-13.7 when just idling. After that turn on your lights and other normal power required items to verify that rpm increase and voltage on battery is still around the same without a major drop of voltage. If all of these are aspects are good then your good to go. If there a problem that your battery is still dead after all. Do the check that was stated above about small draw check.

 

Be sure battery terminals and clamps are free of grease and corrosion. Even a good alternator won't charge a battery needing this kind of maintenance. Eric the Car guy also has a very good video on finding parasitic power drains. Here:

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/videos.aspx

 

This---^


Took me 6 different ones once..... Was on a toyota id take off-road, but wasnt related.