i havent driven my 90 crx si in like 2 months, since i took the crossmember off to use on another car. i finally got another crossmember and put it together yesterday. the battery had died, so i charged the battery and started the car. everything was running fine in the garage.

then i went out for a test drive, and about a mile up the road, the lights started dimming like crazy. the radio cut off, and the tach stopped moving. i was thinking the battery was dying, so i made a u-turn and started heading back home. while i started heading back, the car started acting real funny. when i stepped on the gas, the car didnt move forward at all. it didnt even sound like it was sucking it any air, since i have an CAI. and when i stepped on the gas, it would make these horrible raspy misfiring sounds.

the car eventually rolled to a stop on an uphill, and just cut off. i called my friend, and i jumped the car. it drove fine for about 30 seconds, then it started doing the same thing. it was just barely staying on, and sputtering hard. i made it home, but i havent looked at it since.

has anyone had any problems like this? what could it be? im gonna get the battery checked out, but im not sure if the battery caused the sputtering and what not.

thanks

 

check your alternator sounds like it wasnt charging your battery. your battery should be good because it ran your car for a couple seconds after you jumped it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91civicLX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">check your alternator sounds like it wasnt charging your battery. your battery should be good because it ran your car for a couple seconds after you jumped it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly...maybe you forgot to put the belt on...

 

Depends on how long he had run it before jumping it.

A battery will last a good 15 minutes while the engine runs withouth charging.


Check the alternator but putting in a known good battery, start the car and check the voltage...should be around 14-14.5

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jet Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Depends on how long he had run it before jumping it.

A battery will last a good 15 minutes while the engine runs withouth charging.


Check the alternator but putting in a known good battery, start the car and check the voltage...should be around 14-14.5</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea i ran the car for about 10 minutes before jumping it. would the car sputter like that if the alternator isnt charging the battery?

 

I'm willing to bet your alternator is shot, and you should either check the belt and tensioner pulley on it to make sure it's intact and working properly, and if it is, replace the alternator because it's not charging the battery.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid Invasion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm willing to bet your alternator is shot, and you should either check the belt and tensioner pulley on it to make sure it's intact and working properly, and if it is, replace the alternator because it's not charging the battery. </TD></TR></TABLE>

belt and tension is good. i just replaced the alternator this year with a reman-ed one from advanced auto..this sux. im getting the battery charged right now, but is the battery ruled out as a cause?

 

I had that sputtering once....my alt died on me and I kept driving it, if you keep the car above 5000 rpm it can still run for a while

It could be the batt...but its doubtful.

Once its charged, do that test I told you about. If you arent getting 14-14.5 volts
your alt isnt charging...doesnt mean its shot tho....your power connector on the alt could be loose, disconnected or corroded...you'll have to check that.

 

alternator, no two ways about it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeEFv2.0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alternator, no two ways about it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yep, sounds like a typical bad alternator scenario. Almost thing happened to me. If you try driving it again with a bad alt. you'll burn out the battery and maybe a couple of other thigs, ask me how I know that.

 

im getting 14.3, 14.4 volts when the car is on though

 

alternator

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bee17hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alternator </TD></TR></TABLE>

See post right above yours...his alternator is fine.


**** dude...that doesnt make much sense.

Only other option is that the battery isnt taking charge....doent make as much sense, but its the only option. (if the cause of your stall was a dead battery)

Oddly enough tho, the car should stay on while the alternator is spinning.

BTW: We're all idiots, if it was your alternator, you'd have a red battery light

 

I might be stupid, but isn't there a ground wire hooked up on or near the crossmember? I know one time when I painted my valve cover I hooked up the ground in the wrong spot. It ran fine for a few minutes, but as I was almost at a friends my stereo went crazy, headlights were off, and my speedo+tach stopped working. Could be a short or maybe a mouse. It was sitting for a couple months so maybe somewhere in the battery wires a mouse got hungry.

Just my thoughts, I could be a billion percent wrong.

oh yeah, I also had a time when my battery wires had corroded so much that I had similar problems as well, those are a $20 or so replacement from autozone or a honda dealer.

but again, I'm probably wrong, lol!

 

Nice info

 

since i was getting 14+ volts, i went ahead and drove around with the fully recharged battery. the car died on the road this morning, after an hour of driving however. i recharged the battery again so i could drive it home, and i replaced the alternator (free lifetime replacement at advanced auto!).

hopefully this fix will last longer. by the way, the ground wire on the alternator was hurt! the nut that holds the wire to the alternator was burnt, and the circle thing at the end of the wire was burnt as well, and a part was chipped off. i hope i dont have to take out the wire harness to change that wire...

thanks for the help everyone!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rasta420 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
hopefully this fix will last longer. by the way, the ground wire on the alternator was hurt! the nut that holds the wire to the alternator was burnt, and the circle thing at the end of the wire was burnt as well, and a part was chipped off. i hope i dont have to take out the wire harness to change that wire.</TD></TR></TABLE>

sounds like something got shorted and the alternator took it. the new one should fix it fine.

 

wahoo I was slightly right. Well, sorta. At this point of the afternoon everything I say is right after my last 6 shots.
good luck with the new alt.

 

I had the same problem with my car. Time for a new alternator.

 

u wont have tho remove the enitire harness to fix the wire , that deffinetley sounds like what the problem was