Any and all help would be greatly appreciate.....thank you very much

Hello all. I am having some issues with my 1991 Honda Civic LX that I just picked up this year. I just got around to registering it and playing with it as I was waiting to complete the sale of my 2011 BMW 335xi before I got started with this car.

The basics of my vehicle
1991 Honda Civic LX sedan
5 speed manual
engine is original and completely stock
has some type of nonsense exhaust. cat has been removed. exhaust is probably 2" in diameter. has a flow master or borla type of muffler.
Has a JVC head unit which doesn't; exactly work and some type of aftermarket alarm

So when I went to go look at this vehicle I was really excited. The body of the vehicle is in pretty excellent shape being the vehicle is roughly 28 years old. I have reason to believe it has some electrical issues. The previous owner told me the alternator is an AutoZone Duralast. He even went as far to say "I know its not the best brand of alternators and I hope it doesnt crap out on you", a phrase I should have paid closer attention to. When I went to see the car before purchasing it, it started right up. We went for a ride and it rode pretty decent. Car was definitely too low for my liking so I already knew in the back of my head I would be replacing the springs on the vehicle. It is on Swift coil springs that relatively small (5" in length) and its on Koni yellows which are superb struts. I've ran Koni Yellows in the past with Tein stings and it sat/drove exceptionally well, so I knew I would be swapping those eventually. The only issue with the vehicle is that the passenger side automatic seat belt wasn't functioning. I went back about a week later and purchased the vehicle and drove it home. The car was sitting for approximately 3 days and when I went to start it up to move it further back in my driveway, the car wouldn't turn over. I jumped it and it started right up, drove the vehicle to advance auto parts and had the battery tested, and it came back as bad. I went ahead and purchased a brand new battery. I installed it and everything was swell. Fast forward a little, I let the car sit for approximately 36 hours and once again it wouldn't turn over. I jumped started it and through testing I pinpointed the "duralast alternator that I hope doesnt crap out on you" as the culprit. I went ahead and got a really good deal on a Bosch alternator off of eBay, remanufactured, and went ahead and installed it. Installed the alternator and the car fired right up. I drove it home from my buddys house where we installed the alternator. He is a tech and suggested I drive home, let the car sit for a little, then repeatedly fire the car up, then turn it off. Well I got home, ate my dinner, went to go start the car and it was dead. Just as he suggested, the new battery may have been weakened while it was installed with the faulty alternator. I uninstalled the battery, took it back to Advance where I purchased it, it was tested and deemed faulty and they replaced it for me. I took my brand new battery home installed it and the car fired right up. I took it for a little cruise to the gas station to gas up and to put air in my tires and then back home. The car sat for approximately 16 hours and I went to start it and it started right up no problem. I let it run and warm up to operating temperature while I shoveled some snow and had a cigarette. I turned the car off after it had been running for approximately 15 minutes. The car sat for approximately 5 hours and then I decided to use it to go meet up with a friend to get a cup of coffee. The car started right up, but the automatic seat belt didnt fasten. I forgot to mention that the driver side one works when it wants to, and the passenger side one doesnt work at all. I always wear my seat belt and I actually don't feel comfortable driving without it fastened. I approached a red light and decided to turn the car off and back on, as this sometimes is the solution to get the automatic seat belt to work. I turned the car off and then it wouldn't turn over. It was struggling to crank. I sat there at the red light for about a minute and tried to turn her over again to no avail. I noticed the longer I waited in-between attempts to start the vehicle, the closer it came to starting. I sat there for approximately 3 minutes and finally the car turned over. I noticed at this point that the speedometer and RPM gauge were not functioning. It was still illuminated and the gas and temperature gauge were functioning, but the other 2 werent. I decided at this point to take the car back home and take my mothers TL. I approached a red light and came out of gear. I noticed the light about to turn green so I engaged the clutch and put the car in first. I took off, shifted into second gear and noticed the car started bogging. I immediately shifted into 3rd and it started driving normal again.

I have no idea what the hell is going on with this car. There is definitely issues with it as the seller conveniently stopped answering my calls and texts when I asked him if he could provide a receipt for the original Honda battery that he purchased so that I could get it warrantied and avoid coming out of pocket for a new battery. When I first started tinkering with the car with the batteries and around the time that I first ordered the alternator, I was grilling with him questions and thats when he stopped answering. It's unbelievable how scummy people can be and how dishonest they can be. All of a sudden this car just has a slew of issues. Not to mention this idiot cut the strut towers so he can slam the ever living hell out of this car, the stupidest thing I have ever seen someone do. Shame on me for not even noticing this when I purchased it. I never went to go look at a car that I was interested in buying and had to consider checking the strut towers because I never in my right mind would picture someone doing what this kid did to this poor car.

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. The car is too clean to just give up on, although I really don't want to be fixing a hundred issues and on top of that, finding out what they are to begin with. I paid $2500 for the car, already purchased an alternator and belt, a set of Tein springs, a brand new oil pan and gasket, a distributor O-ring, a brand new set of Federal S595 tires size 195/45/15, a brand new set of Avid 1 Av-08 wheels and a brand new battery. I have more money tied up than I had planned or imagined to. The goal was to invest a small amount of money into a new set of wheels and tires(because the car is on winter wheels/tires that are ugly) touch up the body and swap the springs because the car was too low. I didn't plan or imagine spending money on fixing someone else's mess.

Any suggestions, thoughts, or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Tomorrow I will be calling the previous owner from a different phone number in hopes that he will confess as to whats wrong with the car so I can just fix it and be on my way, instead of wasting money and time diagnosing this vehicle.

Like I said any help would be immensely appreciated. Thank you so much and god bless you all.

 

A few things.... Good alternators are hard to come by (definitely do not buy from Autozone, Advance, etc. - they are all the same JUNK). You were wise to buy a rebuilt Bosch, however, depending on who did the rebuild and what voltage regulator they used, it may still be junk. I recommend Alterstart on EBay. They are well built and use a good voltage regulator. Start with the basics: 1) Is the alternator charging? 2) what is the charge voltage? 3) does the alternator overcharge while driving? You can get a simple monitor that plugs into the cig outlet to check these as you are driving. 2) I would remove any and all aftermarket wiring and make repairs as necessary. It sounds like you have at least 1 circuit going to ground which is draining your battery. Check your battery cables and ground cables and make sure they are good, clean, and tight at both ends. Check your engine ground as well.

You may have other issues going on (very likely actually), but knowing how to get the basic electrical verified will go a long way in further troubleshooting.

 

great info i appreciate it. i actually just PM'ed you. thank you very much

 

anyone else with some helpful info?

Also to add I find it very very odd that the last EF I purchased from a close friend of mine had electrical issues as well. However, his vehicle had a mini-me swap.

He ended up rewiring the entire car front to back. Not sure if EF's are notorious for electrical issues or not.