Ok, I'm driving home from work, stop off at 7-11 to get a drink, then when I go back out to my car... The cluster is faint as hell, my headlights won't go on, the dome light doesn't seem to have full power, and worst of all, IT WON'T START! Luckily, I had parked on a hill, so I roll backwards, get it to do a rolling start, and drive home. I assume it's not my battery that's a problem, since once I got home and turned off my car, my lights went off instantly, and the cluster goes dim again...

Now for a little more detail for you wonderful smart diagnostic types... When I was sitting there trying to get it to start, if I left the key in the "run" position, slowly my cluster would get brighter... Not full bright, but bright-er... At first, when they were really dim, nothing happened when I tried to turn it on, but if I let the lights get as bright as they would, I heard a rapid series of clicks when I turned the key...

So, is my alternator toast? Could it be a fuse problem? Help me out guys... Ironically, tomorrow I have to take my car in for a safety check, since as of half an hour ago (12:30 hawaiian time right now) my car is technically not legal, so help me get to the shop!

 

Here's a way to test the alternator. Get the car started again, leave it idle. Then remove the (+) terminal on the battery. If the car stays running, alternator is fine, if it dies, bad alternator.

I've done this several times on other vehicles in varying years, but never on a honda. Not sure if it will work for a Honda or a newer one, but its worked for me in the past.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cowtit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I've done this several times on other vehicles in varying years, but never on a honda. Not sure if it will work for a Honda or a newer one, but its worked for me in the past.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

could be a bad ground, check the ground on you trany and the on on your valve cover

 

Ok, I just checked, and it's not my alternator. It stayed running when I took off the positive terminal...

How do I check those grounds?

UPDATE: Well, I just went downstairs and sat in the car, listening to the radio while looking through my chilton manual, when I decide to give it another go... I turn the key, and... BAM, it's working just fine... Don't know what I did, maybe running the battery down a little helped, or whatever, but I turned it off then started her back up a few times, and no problems whatsoever...

I still wanna know what the hell was happening though, so I can fix it again should it happen in the future...


Modified by ShakesTheKlown at 1:20 PM 7/1/2003