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Hello,


This is a 2003 honda civic ex 1.7 with 150k on it.
The old battery I had before in the car died too, but the car had been sitting for awhile so I figured that was the cause, although the battery was 2 years old. When I took it to autozone it get it tested it was deemed dead and unable to recharge. So I saved up to buy a new one. Got it yesterday installed it and the car started right up! I drove it around the block and back. Went to bed. I go to start it again and nothing but clicks. What could be causing this? How would I test it?

Thank you

 
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It seems like you have a open circuit somewhere thats draining your battery. Do you have any lights or anything in the car itself that stays on all the time? Or a aftermarket radio?

 
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Yeah there must be a parasitic drain somewhere. The radio is factory, no lights stay on or anything. The alternator I got from a junkyard. Just went out and tested the battery and alternator with my multimeter.

When the car was off the battery: 12.7v

When I turned the car on the battery: 12.7v

When I put a load on the battery: 12.7v

When I turned the car off the battery: 12.67v

So the alternator isn't working right, it isn't charging the battery. I should have just bought a new alternator.

 
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Yeah honestly don't buy one from the junkyard it's not worth it.

 
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Just my 2 cents.. back when I had my VAFC2 installed, I had the voltmeter displayed at all times. During normal operations, battery voltage fluctuated from 11.9V to 14.2V.

If the alternator really wasn't doing it's job, you'd likely see it drop below 11.9 and dropping after some time.

 
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So you think the alternator is working? I'd like to hope so, I put a lot of work into installing it, it was OEM too. I was watching ChrisFix on youtube on his "How to test an alterantor" video. He said.

Battery when car is off should be: 12.6 <---- got 12.7

Battery when car is on: 14.2 - 14.7 <---- got 12.7

Battery when a load is put on: shouldn't be below 12.7 <---- got 12.7

Battery when off should be: >12.6 <---- Got 12.67

So the car is failing the alternator test when the car is on, others seem like they should be higher.

 
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Ive personally seen battery voltages fluctuate from 11.9 to 14.2 (maybe higher, but 14.2 rings more of a bell). I'd more monitor battery voltage with the car running, see if voltage continues to drop instead of maintaining a voltage range

 
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I had to jump start it in order to test it. After the jump start I let it run for 10mins and turned it off. Now it won't start again. The battery is brand new. If it's not the battery or the alternator what else could it be?

 
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My car will sometimes show as low as 12.1x volts while driving.

Turn on headlights for the alternator voltage check.
If alt doesn't bump up voltage above 13v with headlights on (give it 30 seconds or so to respond), there's a problem.




Is alternator bad/was it tested before installation?
Is a fuse blown for the alternator?
Got any fault codes? (does not matter if CEL is on right now or not, history codes can be significant too)
Belt slippage?
Mounting bolts all tight?


If it needed jump starts then the new battery must be weak or drained?
Drain on the battery? If you have a low range ammeter the usual parasitic draw should be less than 30mA.
You really ought to get (or borrow?) a charger to get the battery charged up again so it can start the engine without a boost.

 
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Thank you!
I recall taking this alt when I first got it from the junkyard to autozone and getting it checked out, it passed. I let the car sit for a few months. Could this have ruined the alt? Before though, I had a battery in it and that battery also died, probably due to the alt. Because I kept jumping it over and over again to test things and eventually it drained all the juice out. I don't want that to happen here. I am almost certain the alt has failed. Because I just put a brand new battery in it and doing all these multimeter tests with no change in volts after I turned the key or after I put a load on it and after I turn the car off. It just stays consistently at 12.7 the whole time.


If it's not the alt, what are the common parasitic drains? how can I find them?


Where would the fuse for the alt be located at? I know in the fusebox but not sure exactly which one. I have one of those fuse testers that light up when connected to the battery. I wiggled both the connectors on the alternator, they seem fine. But not 100% I guess one of them could be faulty too. Given the volt tests doesn't it seem like the culprit is the alt?

 
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I just did the "audio test" with my multimeter and all of the exterior and interior fuses checked out. When I connected the red and black cable from my multimeter to the two ends of the fuse the multimeter made a DING sound. That means continuity right?

 
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Maybe a bad diode or voltage regular in the alt?

 
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I went to a local junkyard I didn't even know existed and wow what a find, they sold me the OEM alternator for $35! These go for so much more online, so I felt like this was an amazing buy. Anywho, I installed the alternator took a few hours but I got everything situated. Had to jumpstart it again. I checked the terminals with my multimeter and now it reads 13.85v! I don't want to get excited too soon, but this might be a successful operation. Although, I read that it should be at around 14.2 - 14.7v so something still might be wrong here.

 
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You're above 13v now, I'd say you got a better unit than you had before.
The PCM will control the charging voltage as it sees fit, and it's certainly not how most other cars work.

Did you remember to turn the headlights turned on when you did this charging voltage check?

Keep in mind the new unit is also trying to recharge the run down battery and that may take a while along with requiring a significant portion of the alternators charging power, so give it some time to charge up the battery before worrying.

 
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Yeah, I was thinking maybe it was just adjusting to things.
I can't drive it in the cars current condition. What would you suggest to keep the battery and alternator in good shape? Should I start it and let it run 10mins everyday?

 
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Why not?

A maintainer of some sort for the battery if the car is just going to sit for a long time.

My truck used to kill a battery in about 2 weeks if I didn't disconnect the battery cable.
Now I keep a cheapo HF float charger plugged in to my truck and its battery was ready to go after sitting for the last ~9 months. Cranked great.

My only complaint with this unit is the power supply quit after about one year....I replaced it with a 12v power supply from something else I had in a box of saved electrical junk.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ger-69955.html



I don't worry about my alternator.

 
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Car has a blown head.

I went out this morning to start it and nothing. The alarm system was blinking. But when I went to start it, nothing. Before I went to start it I checked the battery it was at 12.65v. I don't know what could be causing this. What are some typical electrical gremlins in this car? I noticed the greenish wire that extends from the hood latch area to the engine was very frayed. I know now that the alternator is good, so it must be something else. Just not sure what that something could be.

 
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When I jiggled around the terminal cable and went back into the car to start it this time all the lights on the dash came on but when I turned the key all black and then when I tried to start it again no lights on the dash came on.

 
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I just did the headlight test. I turned the headlights on when the car was off. The lights were bright. So I think the battery and the connections are okay now.

 
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With the car off, I tested the battery with my multimeter. Originally it was 12.58v then I turned on the headlights and radio and it read 12.08v. Then when I turned all that off it read 12.38v.

 
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Is this the first mention of an alarm?

What kind is it? Where is the blinking LED located?
Many aftermarket units get wired up to disable the starter.

Bad connection. Poor electrical contact. Might be good enough to carry 10-15 amps to light the dash and headlights, but not good enough to support 150 amps of starter load. Either keep jiggling or take it apart and clean it up until there is bright shiny clean metal on metal contact at all points. If you have replacement cable ends, you might have bad contact where the wires are attached.No, you've only got a good enough connection to run the lights. It still opens under higher load.A voltage drop check can find the bad connection. I could probably use a test light bulb to find it if I had the car in front of me.

 
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Just did a voltage drop test. I took my multimeters set at 20v and put the negative probe on the negative terminal and pokes at spots all around the terminal and on the exposed wire and did the same for the positive terminal with the positive probe on the positive terminal. No voltage change.

 
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CLUE:
Load + resistance = HEAT

After the starter makes the dash go dead, go feel the battery cables and ends and connections for hot spots.

 
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Circuit must be loaded to do a drop check. Loaded enough to stay open (inoperative) during the check.

 
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Thanks for the reply!! and all the helpful information!!

The alarm system is the 7th gen stock never been changed, just that little red LED that blinks. So it gets enough power for that and the dash lights but not enough to power the starter to crank the engine.

What is a test light bulb? I have a fuse tester that lights up, not sure if that would be any help though.

Yeah, there must be a bad connection somewhere, if not the terminals then maybe the cables themselves, and if the not the cables or connectors then maybe somewhere else leading up to the cables. I had this problem before. I may go buy new cables for just the negative end. The positive end seems like a lot of work to get all the cables out and replace them. They seem to be a lot less exposed to the elements than the negative cable is.

Do you think I should replace the whole thing, both negative and positive cables and the connectors? What is better brass or zinc for the connectors? I know the painted ones are terrible but wondering what would produce better conductivity.


What about that frayed greenish wire that extends from the hood latch to the engire area, could that be causing this problem?

 
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http://www.autotechnician.org/starte...plain-english/

 
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Thank you
I took a video of the cables and terminals. I started the car but I just heard a single click then the instrument cluster went black. I didn't notice any changes in temperature on the cables.

here is the video:
https://streamable.com/bzbop

 
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Looks like hell.
Test, don't guess.



Got jumper cables? Connect a black clamp to the neg battery terminal and other black clamp to the engine (find clean solid metal for good contact). See if it cranks.

 
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I thought when jump starting it's:
red on dead battery
red on good battery
black on good battery
black on dead battery

You are saying I should put the neg on dead battery and then neg on good battery?

Or put the neg on the dead and the other neg cable on the body of the dead battery car?

 
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I keep putting a solution of baking soda and water mixture, 50/50 on the cables and terminals and scrubbing them with a toothbrush but it seems to make things worse, it just leaves a greenish residue even after pouring water and re-scrubbing.