I was driving home from work, and as I was slowing down (not stopping) at an intersection my care suddenly died. I tried to start the car again, but it was not turning over. All lights, windows and locks were working without any noticeable issue. I had my wife come to attempt a jump, and had no success. I had to tow my car home because it was getting dark. When I got home I attempted to start the car again, but the battery was completely dead

About 10 days ago, I changed my fuel filter, radiator fluid, transmission fluid, spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor. I did not experience any issues after this maintenance and frankly the car ran much better. The idle was fine and accelerating was better (no misfiring, pinging, etc).

I have not had a chance take a look at; however, it seems like a bad alternator. Does anyone else have any other input or advice? Thanks is advance.


Modified by WinningNinja at 6:49 PM 2/29/2008

 

Sounds like its your alternator but could also be the starter. I would check both. If its your alternator dont buy a new one for $100+, they are easy to take apart and replace the $5 brushes inside.

 

Is your battery 100% dead? No interior lights, no lights on the cluster etc? If it is, its either an old battery or the alternator is shot.

If you DO have power (lights are on), its probably not gonna be the alternator or battery; check the ignition coil and the ICM and get those tested for spec, they may have gone out.

BTW: What year is the car how many miles?

 

The battery is not 100% dead. I do get some power, but not much. The lights are VERY VERY dim.

My car has about 126k miles. I have only had the car for about 4k miles.

 

Either is the alternator is not charging the battery.... Or your battery isnt holding a charge or is just old...

You can goto Auto Zone or Advance and they can test your alternator right there in the parking lot and give you a status report on it

 

when your wife came to help jump your car. did your engine crank? if so...its not the starter. also when u were driving, did u start to notice any dim lights because u said it was getting dark. i assumed that u had some kind of lights on.

 

take the battery out and go to autozone and get it tested. that's easier then taking your alternator off and getting it tested. most likely if your battery is good it'll take the charge that auto zone will do, and then when you take it back and i put it back into your car check if your car is just working completely off the battery. if so it's your alternator.

 

well since there are about 4 main variables you can cancel them out one by one. check the grounds and make sure they are not corroded and are making good contact. starter, if it cranks its good. battery, change it, if it still looses power alternator.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HyperX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
when your wife came to help jump your car. did your engine crank? if so...its not the starter. also when u were driving, did u start to notice any dim lights because u said it was getting dark. i assumed that u had some kind of lights on. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, it was not that dark yet. I was in business dress (long sleeve, slacks) so I did not want to get my clothes dirty.

I had the radio on relatively loud and it did not turn off when the car died.

In addition, the engine did crank.

EDIT:

Great advice thank you everyone; thank you. I will take my battery to be tested once I leave work.

 

 

DB8-TUNER, The distributor is brand new and OEM Honda.

I will open it up and check it out though to see how it looks.

I am worried if the battery is bad and the alternator is bad, then if I replace the battery it will just die.

Hate to waste money on a Yellow-Top to have it die out.

 

best course of action would be what jhammond said. if the battery holds charge...more than likely its your alternator. and since u do have a stereo system, your battery alone wont be able to bump your music without your alternator. lets us know what happens

 

I took the distributor cap off and the rotor was not spinning.

I pull the valve cover off and I discovered the timing belt was ripped.

Searching Honda-Tech I read that I can expect vavletrain damage. Can anyone else chime-in on this issue?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WinningNinja &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I took the distributor cap off and the rotor was not spinning.

I pull the valve cover off and I discovered the timing belt was ripped.

Searching Honda-Tech I read that I can expect vavletrain damage. Can anyone else chime-in on this issue?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you attempted to crank it, I'd be surprised if the valves aren't bent.

 

It was cranked. I am going to pull the head off Sunday to see the damage. Any other input or things I should check as well.

 

is the belt completely ripped or is it still one piece?

 

mostly likey bent valves etc, if you cranked it expect to see more damage, it sucks man- goodluck, well look at this as a sorta good thing, now if you want you can rebuild it and build it

 

if the brushes are bad on the alt, that can be the problem, i suggest a new alt.. dont replace those brushes, its a continuing problem

 

The belt was ripped.

The funny part is, I had an appointment at a dealership to adjust valves the next day. I am so busy with work and school, I have little time to work on it myself. Oh well, thanks for the input.

Is it possible I have damage to the block as well?