After the winter of my car sitting, the battery was dead. So I had it recharged and the car was running fine, until today. It keeps dying, it jumps fine, but as soon as you turn the car off it won't start again. So I took it to Interstate Battery and they told me that the alternator was not charging the battery. I don't think that it is the alternator. But how do I know for sure, is there a way to test the alternator, or should I just get a new battery? By the way the battery is only like 1 1/2 years old. Thanks for any info.

 

starter? igniter?

when u turn it off, and try to turn it back on, does it try to crank at all?

are you running hondata or ems? can you view the voltage of the battery while cranking, and while the car is running to see what its at?

 

Turn car off measure battery, should be at least 12.75 when off. Turn car on get a DVOM, and measure at the battery what voltage you have. Should be anywhere from 13.8 to 14.7. If you dont have above 13.8 then the alternator most likely is not putting out. You can also have the alt. checked at one of those auto parts stores advance, auto blown etc etc.

 

Definitely the battery.

If the car runs fine after the jump, it's because the alternator is making everything stay alive. The fact that your battery was dead for an extended time means it is permanently damaged. It is obviously not even taking a charge. Tell your interstate dealer to give you a new one if it's still under warranty or partial warranty. Standard car batteries once they go dead completely they never fully recover, if at all. I guarantee a new battery will take care of your problem.

 

It'll take like 20-30 minutes driving around for your battery to charge all the way up. A 5 minute drive won't cut it.

 

I had something similar happen in my parents Taurus. Actually it was exactly the same thing Turned out to bet the bettery. Measure bettery voltage and go from there

 

Sounds like the battery to me.

 

Get it tested at your local autoparts store such as Kragen or Pep Boys. It is usually free. They also test alternators.

 

Thanks guys, I will try some of your suggestions out tomorrow, I will keep you posted.

 

Oh yeah, by the way it does want to crank over, but it feels like it does not have the power to do it, and I am running a Hondata S200.

 

Its prob the battery. you might need it to get rechraged. i had the same prob last weekend . except mine died in a few days. then in a few hours. i thought it was the alt. but its starting now . i might have had a loose connection or something?

 

i was in the exact same situation two weeks ago. even the battery is the same. same interstate battery changed a year or so ago. stored car for a few months, battery dead. jump started, drove for just 15 minutes. the next time it just didn't start. battery brought to auto store to recharge, the guy who worked on my battery said it was reading ZERO, 'the battery was dead' , paid 5 bucks to recharge there and everything was back to normal. that's my story.
good luck

 

battery

 

if those other tests come back negative, try a parasitic draw test.
disconnect neg cable and hook one lead from voltmeter to neg cable and other lead to battery negative post. turn voltmeter to amps with the car off and doors shut. if you have a reading over like .02 i would check for other probs.

-chris

 

I took it to pepboys today and the did a test ont the car and said that it was the alternator and not the battery. SO does anybody know where I can get a good deal on an alternator. Pepboys wanted like $300, just for the part and it would take like a week.

 

Find one on h-t. Best deals.

 

You don't happen to have under 50k miles, do you?

If so, it should be a warranty item. ('00 should still be w/in 4 yr warranty period)

 

But I don't think that Honda/Acura will warranty parts on my car anymore.

 

I would tend to agree with the previous statement

 

Never hurts to try but then again, you risk a n00b working on your car.

 

Just so you all know in the future....

To test the alternator, just start the car and disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. If the car keeps on running then the alternator is good.

 

That's good to know. Even though Pepboys tested it, I am going to try that just to check.

 

when you disconnect the battery with the car running will it die immediately?

 

It should keep running.

 

When I disconnected the battery it kept running, I could tell a change in the engine tone but it did not die. So does that mean the alternator is good????
Because Pepboys told me it was bad.,