Rep Power: 0

Im hoping someone can help me understand and troubleshoot my car, it's a 2002 Honda Civic Ex 1.7L.

In May the car died. Replaced battery. Nothing. Replaced Alternator. Everything ran fine for about a month @ 20 mile commute during the day in june for school. SRS and ABS and Engine Light flash in low idle, turn off above 2 rpm. I didn't use the air conditioner, because it would kill the car. Took it back to the shop and they tested the alternator regulator defective. Parts store confirmed it, so they gave the shop another alternator, and the mechanic called the Parts store back because that one had low output. The last alternator on their shelf passed their bench test and in car test. They sent me on my way, that was friday. The next Thursday, the car died at a red light again. I took it back to the shop, but everything tested fine. Took it home, stayed home Friday, and drove about 11 miles on Saturday when the car died on the highway at 70 mph with no hazards or power steering. Was towed back to the closest friends house where the neighbor came over and said one of the boots on the alternator wasn't clicked into place; the car was killing the battery the whole past week. Parts store bench tested alternator, it was also failing all 3, regulator, diodes, output. They were out of alternators, so i got a refund and found two alternators in town left. First one, I asked for it to be bench tested before purchase. It failed. The other one, the store was mad, but I made them bench test it in front of me. It passed. The repair shop was pointing fingers at the parts store and vice versa, so I had my Ex (who is GM Certified) put on that alternator thursday.

We are back in business, right?....Wrong, 2 days later, it starts flashing the dash lights. Parts store says everything checks out on Monday. Friday the car goes dead in a hot afternoon, AC maybe, but the parts store recharged the battery and said that the voltage is high, about 20 volts: they recharged the battery and said I could make it home or to the shop, nothing further. We spent that weekend at home. Monday, I go to recharge battery first thing and everything looks good again, battery is fully charged, alt passed diode, regulator and output, but this time when I rev up to 3 rpm, the car dies. AC and radio also dim lights and flash ABS/SRS/ENG, but dont kill the car. So they guy tells me to go to his friend and have the electical wiring/system professionally diagnosed, as if what he does for testing alt/bat/starter doesn't really mean anything. (As I am typing this I realized the guy didn't even bother to check the codes)

So i go because the mechanic says they will credit the diagnostic fee toward repair. The guy plugs in a voltameter and asks to hold the rpm at 2, then plugs in under the driver dash and after about 30 minutes, says he needs to check the wiring for corrosion. I return the car the next day, and ends up the battery (warrantied) and battery terminals are replaced and sends us on our way. The next day, the car dies and I get it jumped and make it back to the mechanic. Says I need to leave it for a whole day, but wont have time til the end of the week unless I agree to let him take it to his house so he can work on it overnight. I said no, i dont feel comfortable with that idea. He saids that its up to me how soon I need it fixed and I told him friday is okay. 10 am this morning i get a call that my ECU is fried. He said the alternator bounced charge into the circuit and the ground was installed improperly at some point among the defective alternators. And the alternator is shot again, most likely fried by the ECU that was fried by improper ground draining battery and causeing surges due to corroded battery terminals. I spent the next 6 hours driving around town(in a friends vehicle of course) talking to the dealership, japanese motors and foreign parts place, the original shop that worked on my car in may, and the city's best electrical place according to everyone. What I found out is that no one seems to know how to fix my car. Battery, Alternator, Battery terminals, now im being told an ECU/flash, relay fuse box, starter*i know that;s not right*, and contradiction in the cause, current problem, pricing (cuz usually the dealership is more expensive, but apparently not for these repairs),and to top it all off, everyone is pointing at everyone else for screwing up the car, but no one knows what is going on with my car!



The battery charged so i could get it home. The air conditioner would flash SRS/ABS. The stereo wouldn't, but dimmed the turn signals. The windows are slow moving. it idles and runs steady after charge for about 10 minutes, regardless of distance, except when the clutch is released or just as it is pushed in. The seat belt indicator was good and turned off when I buckled up. all lights, wipers work, but I could feel the power slowing down the more time accessories are on. I dont think I can make it to an autozone/oreilly for check codes, but i am borrowing a friends truck to go buy a chilton manual, charge the battery, check the alternator and/or replace the alternator myself, and purchase a voltimeter. If you have any other suggestions(i am working on trying to get a tow for checking codes) please post them. I am nervous as hell to do all this.

Please help, brave, intelligent, car detectives, help solve this one, my brain, eyes and fingers hurt, but I am ready to get my hands dirty, so tell me what to do so I can get everyone to school next week.

 
Rep Power: 0

The reason i brought the car back home is because the mechanic who diagnosed the ECU as being fried couldn't put the test results on paper to provide warranty information. His boss objected to printing out test results and said they wouldn't charge for the testing? It made me wary of their practices that they couldn't put it on paper what the results of the electrical testing were, so I backed out of paying for the installation of the ECU. The honda dealership said that the place where the car is being tested is not authorized to do testing of the ECU and I would have to bring the car to Honda anyways to have it flashed. The mechanic left the key in my ignition in the next door parking lot and said they charged the battery to get it to home or honda after I asked why they couldn't provide the results on paper.

 
Rep Power: 233

If you're having problems with off the shelf alternators then take it to the alternator re-builder in you're town. They are cheaper and usually have same day or next day service (with warranty).

Your car wouldn't run at all with a bad ECM/PCM but, still may need to be re-flashed (dealer only). With the alternator hooked up wrong the car will run as long as there's juice in the battery. Hence the running for ten minutes then dying.

What codes if any are you getting?

 
Rep Power: 0

Update!!!!

I took your advice. Took the battery out and got it on a quick charge, then drove the car to the nearest parts store. They hooked it up, off/idle and no codes for eng/abs/srs. They did a system check and turned out that the resistance was good.... 0.05, but the alternator failed.

Bought a haynes manual and the sockets. Got the alternator out and took it back to where i purchased and got a full refund, core included. The place that did the system check this morning, matched the refurbished bad alt with a brand new alt from the factory (just have to wait for shipment, ~Tues), and the core charge was about 30 less, so it covered the sockets and manual.

So thank you for responding, it lit a lightbulb.

Just a quick question, I have no alt in the car til Tues and have the battery unhooked right now. How do i safely roll the windows up?

Can i hook the battery back up and just turn the key to the on position?

 
Rep Power: 233

^^ Yeah, you should just be able to hook the battery up. Be as quick as possible so you don't run the battery down.