My car was running fine.. Yesterday I had a radio and alarm installed and I drove it all last night and today with no problems.

Today, after work I took it through the car wash, then went to the store. On the way there, it sounded like my radio was cutting out a little here and there..maybe every 10 sec.

I get out of the store and it starts to turn over but then dies.. like a dead batt... so we pop the clutch and hoof it home but at every light (basically every time I was not in gear or giving it gas) it starts to die.

Even when I would shift, the tach dropped like it was shutting off.

?? I am thinking alternator? I tested the batt with my multimeter and it was reading 15.94 consistently... ??

Anyone know what else may be a cause?

Thanks!

 

Almost 16 volts seems a bit high for a battery. They are supposed to be about 12.6 volts. Sounds to me like your alternator is messed up (voltage regulator) and is overcharging your battery.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FourthGenHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Almost 16 volts seems a bit high for a battery. They are supposed to be about 12.6 volts. Sounds to me like your alternator is messed up (voltage regulator) and is overcharging your battery.</TD></TR></TABLE>
i must agree...how does your car start up? it can also be your starter or a loose connection to your battery

 

Well car wont start at all now.. just tries to crank.. but yeah, I though that was way too high...

Could it have anything to do with the alarm or the radio? Maybe where they grounded them to? Teh werid part is that it was fine today and yesterday all day.. ? Just after the car wash.. ??

 

bump... anyone have any other ideas? Thanks!

 

If you think your ALT. is giving you **** try this. Start the car, while idling - disconnect the positive terminal on the battery. If the car dies then your alternator is shot. At least i think that's how it goes. try it, write back.

 

That's the thing.. my car wont stay idling... as soon as I stop giving it gas... it stalls.. the tach just drops to ) and car dies...

 

Sounds like you have some messed up electrical problems. The battery reads 16v which is damn high, I have a feelign even though it has power in it that the battery is damaged somehow, and a bad alternator will do this. Attempt to do the negative cable disconnect thing to test the alternator.

My Helms manual has a test for the Alternator. I'd try having your battery taken and tested with a VAT-40 machine. Helms shows that the battery should not read more than 13.5 volts (which is normal operating voltage). 16 is wayyy too high.

 

sounds like ur battery is fawked up, get a new one slap it in and test it, get a diagnostic test at a honda dealership, thats the best way to go and will save u hella money at the end when ure buying a new alt., new bat ,and new other crap when u can goto the dealership in the first place and get a 25 dollar check up finding out that it was a piece of dirt stuck in the wrong place somewhere so ur elect. can flow like a ****, good luck man ,

 

Yeah, In my haynes manual it says batt should read 12 volts with motor off and 14-15 volts while running... Well mine is reading that...just not while running

It says that if the voltage is off.. it could be a bad voltage regulator... I am hoping this is it.. I will have the battery tested tomorrow.

Do you think it could have anything to do with the alarm or radio that was put in yesterday? Or just a huge coincidence? I mean, for each of them... they really only hook up a power and ground for the most part..right?

Just want to cover all the angles.. Thanks!

 

The reason the battery reads higher than 12.6v with the car on is because supposing the battery was fully charged the alternator can pump out more than 12.6v (more like 13.5) so it will read that higher voltage supposing your battery isn't really low on power). With it off its just the battery and it is only supposed to output 12.6 unless something is wrong with it.

 

Ok, ok I gotcha. It sounds like it could be the voltage regulator then..unless the batt is just realy screwed up.. But I would think if My batt is reading that high... then the car should start!! not just whimper a few times and die right?

I dont know much about voltage regulators though... could this make a dead batt seem like it had that much of a charge? Or maybe it is like you said and my alt is messing with my batt...

Just seems odd that the batt can read that high.. yet I barely get a crank.. and when I pop the clutch it stals if I dont keep on the gas...