'98 EX civic. stock.
Alright.. My alternator is in the process of breaking. It still works enough for me to run my car, and stereo while running and lights dont dim at all, and all that on a dead battery (battery is not the problem, i have switched it). Even with all that stuff off and after a nice drive there just wont be enough power in the battery to start up my car.

I can get a jump or charge the battery via a charger in the garage, and my car will start up and work fine.. until i turn it off, then it wont start again. And if i charge it enough i can get a couple good runs out of the battery. Is this fixable at all, like something really simple?? maybe something that could have been knocked loose during normal operation.. I havnt even done so much as popped my hood between when it worked fine and stopped working.

If not im just going to bring it to the dealer in a day or two when someone has time. and wondering about how much I can expect this to cost me?

 

sounds like the alternator to me. just replace it, dealer is gonna be spendy. if you're mechanically inclined, just do it yourself, really simple. remove connections at alternator, then loosen the bottom pivot bolt, take off the belt, remove the top bolt, and one more bolt on the bottom of the alternator, and take it off. replace the alternator. also, check the voltage when the car is started. alternator should be putting out around 14 volts.