Wow, so I went to make a late night grocery run. Everything was fine as usual. Then when I got in my car to leave, I started driving and noticed the ABS light turn on all the sudden. It's never turned on previously in the past. So I pull over and decide to try and turn the car off and back on. Big mistake. When I turned the car off, I tried to start it and got some very loud clicks followed by rapid flashing of the speedometer instrumentation lighting. WTF?

All the interior lights are working as usual at this point. So I let it sit and then try to crank it up about 3 minutes later. Same loud clicking and instrumentation flashes...but this time something happened and the cd player ejected and it seems like the ecu got reset. WTF?!?!?!?!? At this point I'm really sweating it.

So I pop the hood and take a gander at the battery. Mind you, about 3 days ago I cleaned off the positive terminal as it had a ton of corrosion on it, as well as retightened the clamps. Well when I took a look again tonight, it appeared a fresh coat of caked corrosion was on the positive terminal again. Very weird. I'm thinking something shorted...which is what caused everything to reset???

So I clean it off a bit again and then proceed to completely disconnect the negative terminal and let it sit and reset for a good 5 minutes. Re-connected and tightened, said a few prayers, and cranked her back up. It hesitated for a split second and fired right up again. I made it all the way home no problems.


This is quite concerning though, as this is exactly the third time my car has just intermittently died on me with no warning. The first was about 3 weeks ago when I was just stopped at a light and the car just died. Cranked it back up no problem. And then a similar occurance as tonight happened about a week and a half ago when the car refused to start up from cold. However, it finally gave in after about 7 cranks and giving it some gas.

Any ideas on what I'm looking at here? The car JUST had the full Acura 100k service about a month and a half ago and has been meticulously maintained at all regular intervals...so I dunno. I'm thinking maybe the battery is low? Possibly alternator? Loose connection somewhere? It's just all very odd. I do notice the lights intermittently dim while driving at night...(like a power surge while driving), but this is an irregular occurance. In all instances I've had at least a half tank of gas.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere again at night...it sucks bad. Thanks

 

well dying at the light might be blamed on a loose iggnition wire somewhere......... the ABS ligt I get al the time, its become a normal part of driving for me :p..... I had the same battery acid problem on my terminals.......... then I bought an Optima red top...... never saw the problem ever again for the 2 years ive been runing the optima, theyre great and they really dont cost that much more than a regular battery and even so youre getting so much of a better battery, I mean they even give you a 3-year FREE replacement guarauntee


but id definately guess a loose connection somewhere in the ignition system, maybe the fuel isnt making it to the cylinders (fuel pump)...... no spark, stuff like that can be reasons for the bad/rough starts, and a loose connection is probably how id explain it only acting up at some times and not others

 

Check your bat terminals first, tightness, corrosion, then get your bat load tested, the alternator shouldn't stop it from starting. If it's none of those, then it's probably your starter going, since you could hear it clicking

 

clicking when you try to start along with electrical problems is usually your starter. my friends gti had the exact same problems.

 

thanks much guys!

Actually, I think it's probably my battery going, as these problems have only reared themselves only after the car was slammed with coilovers. I believe that the battery was already quite weak and old (several years old)...and there had been times I was at the carwash and boneheadedly left the stereo blasting while the car was off. The headlights and instrumentation lighting have been dimming for quite some time now. Instrumentation lights also slightly flicker with deep bass hits on the stock Bose system.

I think the slamming of the car is leading to the battery's ultimate demise due to the extreme vibrations (I mean, the car literally jolts at moderate sized street imperfections) since it is a traditional wetcell battery and doesn't handle big vibrations well...and this is just compounding with the fact the battery is already weak.

Add that to the fact it's reaching near freezing temps here in the NW at night, and I believe I have a culprit. I'm going to start with a new battery and work my way from there.

I've decided to abandon the traditional battery this time and go with something deep cycle and quality, like the Optimas.

Any suggestions on what model to buy? I don't run any auxillary lighting, but will be running HID's and possibly a very very modest stereo setup like a single 12" w/ 400 watt amp in the future. So I don't need anything overkill.

I was looking into the red top GRP 25? I also see a yellow top d51r, but it's quite a bit more and I don't know if I could justify the difference in cost (about 160 vs. 120).

Thanks in advance

 

trust me, you wont regret geting an Optima....... even just a red top, im running a 500W LAT subwoofer system on an underdriven alternator and the battery still pushes power out strong (granted I still needed a cap on the LAT)......... but yeah, the vibrations dont bother an Optima... as much, you can flip the thing and nothing goes wrong....... and the corrosion/battery acid build up around the terminals. that wont be a problem either.. oh and HIDs tend to be EASIER on the electrical system than traditional halogens............. but I think a red top will be more than enough for you, now and in the future

 

Thanks much man. I think I'm going to go with the GRP 25 red top then. It's 110 new at a local shop. I'll report back after installed.


thanks again guys

 

see what happens. Keep in mind, if the recurring light dimming continues, look into an alternator.

 

true enough, I just got the cap in last week or so....... no problems at all since it went in though........ except at a prolonged idle...

 

thanks guys...um....how would I go about checking if its the alternator right now?

 

I have the 75/25 yellow optima and it fits perfect

 

If you start the car, and take the battery off, and the car still runs, then the alternator is still good.

 

go get an alternator tester at Wally World. I've heard TexasHonda say that so many damn times, I'm surprised any still asks.

 

 

does walmart do it for free? i thought only autozone did it for free?

 

oh, so its safe to remove one of the battery terminals while the car is running? I had no clue....

 

I had the SAME EXACT THING happen to me, and all it was was a bad battery connection. Cleaned and tightened my terminals and it was back to normal.

 

ok guys so I took off the strut bar plastic covering, and well...look what I found. Same white powdery substance as the battery terminal corrosion. Methinks something shorted ?!? Anyone tell me what I'm looking at here?

 

Um, that's your fuel filter

 

wtf

should I be uh...concerned? lol

 

i thought i was going crazy myself when he said battery terminal

 

nah, I said same white powdery substance as was found on my battery terminal. it just boggles me how it could also be on the fuel filter? Is there another big grounding point in that area?

 

Nope, no grounding point near there. That shiz on your ff is nasty. Makes me wonder if it's not clogged. I'd recommend changing it, even though it's a PITA

 

Thanks again guys! Just wanted to update and state that I got the new optima redtop and installed, and ever since then no problemos whatsoever. However, I do still notice interior instrumentation dimming/fluctuating at night with throttle activity. However, I'm thinking this has something more to do with a previous thread I read about the voltage regulator or something (a semi-known issue?)

I just ordered a new oem replacement fuel filter so I'll also be installing that soon as preventative maintenance. Yeah man that stuff looks nasty as heck...I dunno what happened.

 

My lights were doing the same thing, dimming and brightening while driving. It could be your alternator, that's what happened with mine.

 

arggghhh...that's not what i want to hear lol


how much did it cost you to replace, and did you do it yourself?

 

i replaced my alternator myself for $50