Car was working fine yesterday when I got home. This morning I wake up to a dead battery on my 2000 Accord V6. I just changed it like a year ago so I'm getting worried that it's the alt. My neighbor helped me jump start it. I get to work with no issues but right after I go up the big ass ramp (heavy load?) to my parking garage the car just dies right there in the parking lot. I push it to a spot and here I am now. I don't have a battery tester or anything on my car except for jumper cables. Since I'm in freaking Miami Beach there's no nearby auto store to test my battery. I'll probably have to get it towed home unless someone jumps me but then I run the risk of dying in rush hour. Ideas?

 

If the batter is a year old like you said you may want to have the alternator tested.

 

I read on a few sites that if you loosen the negative while the car is running, you can tell if it's going bad. If it struggles, it's bad because the battery wasn't fully charged. If not, then it probably would be the battery.

 

So if it struggles it's the battery, and if it doesn't it's still probably the battery?

 

Nvmind disconnecting it while running. I'll fry my computer. Do the tow truck drivers have volt meters so they can test it?

 

Check the battery cables, connections and terminal clamps NOW, before jumping. It sounds like wiring is loose somewhere-- which would account for a dead battery w/i a year.

If the wiring and alternator are OK, maybe a defective battery...

G/L.

 

Check all cables first to determine it's not a connection problem. If you turn the key to acc, do such things as the heater and radio work? I'm thinking it may very well be the alternator. If you can get the car running again, take a screwdriver and hold it the back of the alternator against the rear bearing. If a magnetic force pulls the screwdriver blade to the rear housing, chances are the alternator is working. Even so, the regulator (most like within the alternator) could be faulty. You would then need to measure the output with proper equipment to determine if it's faulty.


Terry

 

Nothing works when I turn the key. The factory alarm unlocked the door and the tails flashed. But when I press the emergency lights, nothing happens and it makes a noise from the steering wheel like if it's trying. While the key is turned the lights are very dim on display. I'm not sure which cables to check but one square plug was tight into the alternator and the batteries are secure and I cleaned them up with diet soda.

 

Wish me luck. Geico won't tow me since I'm 25 miles away from work. I'm going to leave early and try to get to Advance Auto to test the alt and battery. If it's the battery, I'm ripping that shit out and taking it to Wal-Mart.

 

Good luck.

I'm curious to what it might be, as it stalled out while driving. If the alternator/regulator is working properly, then it should suffice enough to keep the car running even if the battery is weak. Once it's running, try the little trick I recommended with a screwdriver or equivalent to see if the alternator is magnetized.


Terry

 

sounds like your ground cable is loose, explaining why it might of loss power on a hill

 

good luck bro Im in miami right now so if i see a guy stuck on the side of the road beating up his battery Ill stop and help ya out

 

It didn't lose it while on it. It lost it after. Does that make a difference?

Couldn't get it started. I called Geico to send their tow guy to give it a shot and maybe he has a voltmeter or something. Now I'm worried how I'll get my friend's mechanic out here to change it.

 

Just a thought: Some older Honda models have faulty ignition switches. This often causes the electrical to cut in and out. I'm not sure it this would cause the dash lights to dim however.


Terry

 

Sure it's not the ground cable? have the interior lights on and try wiggling it where connects to the chassis and see if the lights dims/brightens

 

Tow truck guy through my insurance came by. Cranked it up with my friend's SUV as my co-workers Altima was too puny. He disconnectd the battery and it still ran so I guess it wasn't the alt. Now you guys got me worried about the ground cable but I left my car at work and caught a ride. I picked up another battery (this time from Costco) and will install tomorrow. I'll keep u posted.

Thanks for all your help guys

 

Should've listened to you guys regarding the wiring. I put in the new battery and nothing. I played with the cables and the positive has something loose. I gotta figure it how to rig it so that I can get home and then buy a replacement at the store.

 

Yeah, in many instances it's always the easiest thing to correct that's the problem. What do you need to replace?


Terry

 

probably not the same thing but something similar happened to my bro's 02 Accord v6 recently. he would drive and the car would just die suddenly while in traffic. battery and alternator tested out fine. turns out it was the aftermarket alarm that caused the problem. disconnected it and the car runs fine.

 

No alarms but I have VTEC controller, HIDs, and a system. Never had issues though.

Terry, I tightened the hell out of the battery cables to the battery and played with the cables to see if the light would cut off. Maybe it was never tightened well since I did install the last battery myself. I also tightened the hell out of the battery clamp so that there's no play. Drove around the car and turned it off and back on so far so good. I'll give her a ride home and see from there.

 

Should be good. It's not really necessary to over tighten the battery cables. Just snug them to the point where nothing moves, whether on the battery posts or to the electrical components.


Terry

 

.... and at the points where it connects to the car's chassis, sand it down a little bit with sandpaper and try clearing out the screw hole and get rid of any rust that's there... otherwise you might get the problem again, even though everything is tight (speaking from experience)

 

Well the car wouldn't start this morning. Not sure if it was because of the same issue but I have a 6 month old battery. I was able to roll up the window, turn on lights, etc but the car wouldn't turn over. Tried jumping the car but to no avail. Now when I try to start I get the clickety noise. I played with the connectio while the parking lights were on to see if it was loose but not reaction. I'll take the battery to the store to test and have Costco swap it if that but who knows.

Update: 30 mins later battery is drained. WTF

 

Just buy a volt meter and measure the battery. It's the ONLY way to tell what's happening with your electrical system. At idle it should be anywhere from 14.2-14.8 volts. Nothing much lower and nothing higher. The battery should be around 12.4V.

Also, like it was mentioned earlier in the year, try finding the grounding points on the car. There should be one near the battery and there's probably one near the starter. I recently had a grounding issue where I had 100% full power until I went to start the car. Then it was dead. I took out the battery and cleaned every grounding point I could find. A few in the engine and I took off each wire going to the starter (power, ground) I cleaned them all with sand paper and put it back together and it's good as new.

Just some suggestions...I know these electrical gremlins can be very aggrivating...

 

disconnect the battery and remove the alternator and get it tested. If you had a fully charged battery and now it's dead, that would next point me in the direction of the alternator not recharging the battery.

if the alternator checks out ok, i would start disconnecting any aftermarket things like stereo or anything that requires power that is aftermarket as you may have a power drain of some sort. But make sure you recharge the battery before hooking up the new alternator if you get one.


*** alternators are not returnable once purchased in most stores

 

I hadn't driven the car since yesterday. No lights were left on. Could the battery get drained overnight and then die when attempting to start because of the alt drawing power? I thought the alt would draw power only when the car was running. I'm so clueless why it wouldn't start this morning.

 

I definitely sounds like your alternator.

I had an old Toyota Camry that did the same thing. I checked the alternator twice and it came out good. It turned out that it was intermittently charging. And it worked better when the car was idling. That was why they never detected a fault. Once they changed the alternator the problem went away.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought that the car's electrical system will usually only draw power when the car's engine is not running, or you are starting it. Once the engine is running the alternator should generate enough power for the electrical needs. If your alternator is failing or has failed, then it will not properly charge the battery and eventually your car will die from no electrical power. It sounds a lot like what you have happening.

 

and almost exactly 6 months later...

 

I saw that on the battery since Costco puts a battery date. Where can I get an alt cheap?

 

www.rockauto.com

Might get it in a couple days though. Maybe not even with Christmas this week.

 

or www.autopartswarehouse.com

 

Or Pep Boys, Autozone, or any of those places. Napa too. They'll have remanufactured models.

Also, like everyone else suggested: Clean the battery connectors (with a file or good sandpaper), and follow the negative wire to where it hits the chassis (car body). Clean that area, the bolt, and washer. Plus be sure that it is making good metal on metal contact. If all of that fails, your alternator is the culprit unless something is shorted and just draining your battery.

Make sure your trunk lights / interior door lights shut off when closed, and the stereo (if aftermarket) is hooked up properly.

 

Battery tested fine. I changed the nut and bolt that connects the wiring to the positive terminal as it was rusted (took me an hour to get it off) so the electricity came back. Still wouldn't start. I'm starting to think main relay.

For the last couple of years if the car ran for like an hour or so straight in traffic I'd have restarting issues. In other words, get home from work with heavy traffic, 5 mins later decide to leave, car won't start for like 20 mins until it "cooled down". After 20 mins it would start if nothing. I've read that the main relay gets hot and this could happen. Now with the car not starting up, another symptom, it kind of heightens my hunch. This is a common problem for Accords and Civics but I wanted you're guys take on it. Thanks

 

i had a problem similar to your last post on my 87 escort gt. The ignition control module would expand when hot and shut the car down. Once it cooled off it restarted most times. Once i replaced that it was fine. I don't know if there are ignition control modules on these cars or if they're called something else.

 

Yup main relay. Oddly the battery had a low charge which we noticed because it wouldnt stay on at idle. After changing the relay it cranked right up but the battery was only producing 12V. We ran it for a few minutes and it slowly got stronger. After an hour or so we the charge was up to 13.6V with an idle at around 500. My mechanic knew it wasn't the alt because when we gave it gas, it'd go up to 14.X. When I woke up this morning I had a nice strong idle and the car ran perfectly. Not sure if the battery is in the 14s but the car ran like a champ. We'll retest when he comes to work on my van.

 

LoL I was going to say

lets see here

2000 Accord V6? Check
Delphi Peice Of Shit alternator? Check

Prolly the alt


but instead since I see you have found the main relay to be at fault, you can remove it open it and resolder it and put it back in and it should work fine Honda has a history of main relay problems related to piss poor solder joints

 

hopefully that was your issue

 

On my 2nd Delphi