First off I did search I just want more opinions on my situation..

Well I just purchased a 90 si for a daily beater to get me around throughout the winter and while my coupe is down. A few days into owning it its already left me stranded

Well a few days after owning the car I have noticed that after being driven and restarted immediatley one of two things would happen.
-Fuel Pump will not prime resulting in the cr not starting of course
-car will start and die in a few seconds if i let it idle.
After doing some searching I have concluded that the main relay issue these cars have is the root of my problem. Well....

Two nights ago driving my car home from work I began to notice my tach jumping and then dying, the lights began to dim, signal arrows were not working, and the car would start to spudder. I barely made it home, I shut the car off and tried restarting it and all I got was clicking. I go inside to get ready to go out and come back an hour later and for the hell of it I try starting the car, it turns over weakly but it fired right up.

The next moring I charge the battery up and the car cranked normally again. I drive it to work, out to lunch while I was at work, and back home and had no problems with it. Then I go out to stop at a friend's house and thats when I get the whole lights dimming, car sputering and dying thing again. Id try turning the car on and I'd get the clicking and the fuel pump not priming, the CEL also would not shut off too. This time I never make it home without a jump. The jump only got my car to last for 2-3 mins before it died again. Id try restarting and I'd get the clicking again, howver if I let it sit for a little bit the car would begin to try turning over but unlike the previous night it would not start without a jump or a charge.

So what can this be, is this just because of a bad main relay or is this an alternator problem? or is it both? Help a new ef owner out guys

 

Help the brotha out!

 

Sounds like your alternator for sure, and your main relay could be acting up to.

 

Thanks guys,
Thats my guess so far, well I'll check my fuses as soon as I get the chance to because I'd hate myself if it was something stupid like the alternator fuse and proably order a new alternator and a main relay. Sucks I bought this car hoping I'd get away from fixing broken parts and downtime

Anyone else?

 

Main relay=Definitly
Alternator=Definitly
Why definitly you ask?
I had all of the problems you have had exactly the way you describe it on my 1990 CRX Si I used to have.
The reason your car was dying is because it was trying to run off of your battery because the alternator is not charging. Chances are your battery is still good, But charge it ASAP. Being discharged to the point it is may not be good for it. Hope this helps!

 

make sure you charge your battery first, because if u let your alt charge your battery, it really kills the life of your alt

 

well I just ordered a main relay from majestic honda for $42.47+ shipping&handling.

Any suggestions from where I can pick up an inexpensive alternator? Doesn't have to be oem it just needs to get the job done heh.

 

I would say auto zone or pep boys, they have a life time warranty so you will never have to pay for an alternator again. You should of mention the main relay before you bought it, I could of got you one for half that price.

 

ebay for the alternator....or here on honda-tech.....autozone would work too....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would say auto zone or pep boys, they have a life time warranty so you will never have to pay for an alternator again. You should of mention the main relay before you bought it, I could of got you one for half that price. </TD></TR></TABLE>

D'oh! stupid me bought on impulse Thanks for offering to hook me up like that though, I really appreciate that comming from somebody I don't really even know.

I think I'm going to end up picking up an alternator at autozone $89.99 + the core charge just for the sake of the warranty and it being brand new unless somebody can beat that

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AztecEJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

D'oh! stupid me bought on impulse Thanks for offering to hook me up like that though, I really appreciate that comming from somebody I don't really even know.

I think I'm going to end up picking up an alternator at autozone $89.99 + the core charge just for the sake of the warranty and it being brand new unless somebody can beat that

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your welcome, I can get you an alternator for 70 bucks but it comes with no warranty.

 

What kind and from where? As long as its brand new, works, and I'm able to get it asap I'm definatley interested.

 

Well you would have to ship your old one out to them, which if you need it soon this would not be the way to go. I'm gonna have to say go with auto zone

 

Ok thanks, Autozone it is

 

autozone arent brand new...they are rebuilt...if you were in NY i could hook you up with it for basically free, since i work there...

 

My fault....I knew that