A few days ago my 91 CRX wouldn't start. When I tried to start it all I heard was a fast clicking sound. I left it and took the Integra for the day. The next day I took my battery down to Checker and had them test it, and it is fine. I'm guessing it is the alternator, but would it make a clicking noise in the "start" position? I tried hooking one of those jump-start kits that come with a small battery and I got the same result (clicking), except that I seemed to have full power (ie: no dimmed lights, clock, radio came on, etc.). Any help is appreciated.

 

I would take the battery to another place to test it. The starter still might of just clicked from the jumpstart kit because it didn't have enough voltage. Try to actually jump start it (have a friend push the car, then pop the clutch out in 1st) and see if it'll run for a decent amount of time. If the battery doesn't charge up and hold I'm also willing to bet it's the alternator...but the battery light will usually stay lit if that's the problem.

 

i had the same problem with my old rex. it was def my alternator. i had the battery checked out at four different places and then i dawned that i should check the alternator. on me

 

Before you dig into the car to take the altenator out-how about the starter itself. You say that all you hear is clicking-could be the solenoid not pulling in. If the car starts with a push start and the battery has a full charge (about 12.8 volts for a CRX)-take the starter out and test it.

 

this happened to me last week and all it was that i had blown one of the larger fuses forget which exactly but was on passenger strut toward bottom of fuse case thats what i would check i almost bought an altanator till i saw that

 

Order of testing:
Fusible Links (in that little C-shaped box on the passenger strut tower)
Battery terminals/wires
Battery
Alternator
Starter

The clicking noise is caused by one of two things:
1) the starter solenoid is clicking on and off because the battery doesn't have enough current to create a field strong enough to keep the solenoid closed
2) the starter drive is clicking back and forth because the solenoid is working, but the drive mechanism isn't getting enough current to engage the flywheel.
This can be caused by internal corrosion or by a burned-in-two armature wire.

Since your car won't start and you say the battery is good, hotwire it and try to get it to start. If you can hotwire the starter and it works, that says your starter solenoid is bad. If you hotwire it and it still won't turn over, most likely the contact plates in the back of the starter housing are bad. Therefore you should replace the starter.
Once it's running it wouldn't hurt to test the alternator too. I have a 100Wx2 amp and it killed my new alternator last month. These little Honda alternators aren't invinclbie, but they do put out ~65 Amps which is repsectable.

Of course this is where I break out the obligitory "If I were there with the car it would be much easier to diagnose"

Good luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crxchris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this happened to me last week and all it was that i had blown one of the larger fuses forget which exactly but was on passenger strut toward bottom of fuse case thats what i would check i almost bought an altanator till i saw that</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just checked the main fuses there (two 50 amp and one 60 amp), and they seem fine.

 

Well I swapped the battery from my Integra into the CRX and it started right up. Drove it back down to Checker to have the alternator checked, all checked out OK, but he said something was killing my battery. He said when it was under load (car on, radio on, lights on, etc.) the voltage was dropping. I am thinking it is a component in my stereo (amp most likely). Does this sound right?

 

Well how do you have your amp hooked up? I mean if you have the remote wire hooked to your radio and the amp is shutting off with the radio I dont see why it would be a problem? But maybe your altenator is on its way out and it cant handle the extra amps that the amp is drawing?

 

Is there a way that I can see if it is drawing power from the battery when the car is off? He said the alternator was charging fine. They hooked the dead battery up to a charger, but I just called them to see if it was done, and he said the battery is shot.

 

Well there are probably other ways to see if its drawing current but you could always just disconnect the battery termianl and just hook up your amp and go from there? I would say though that if they say the battery is shot then I would say the problems were your battery and not something else. Just get a new battery and gof rom there. But I know that there are people on here that know how to check for draws from the battery.

*EDIT* damn almost 4 battery right in a row

 

Yeah I am going to pick up a new battery. My stereo has been setup the same for 2+ years.