Rep Power: 288

so i was stuck in stop and go traffic for 60 mins plus today. then suddenly my abs light went on, the gagues started blinking and the radio went on and off by itself. i was driving at night with my fogs on, ac on, defrost on and my bass going. i have a powered bazooka tube. i turned off the ac and everything turned back to normal. when i parked my car in the garage i couldnt restart it. i just heard the clicking sound. i know the clicking sound should be the dead battery warning. but im not sure if the alternator is alright either cuz if the car is running the battery should be fine right? unless the cuz of the stop and go traffic mix with low engine speeds wasnt enough to support my electrical consumption and started draining my battery. what do you think guys battery or alternator? i guess if its the alternator, ill just get AAA to tow it to the nearest honda dealer around here. im in los angeles by the way.

 
Rep Power: 278

our grounding system is crappy and doesn't charge very well when the rear defrost is on, mine goes down to 11.6 when light and defrost and everything is on charge up the battery and get it tested it possiple that the battery is shot but the alternator maybe shot also try the battery test first before you goto honda and then if the battery is good but low on charge put a new alternator in and doing the grounding cable DIY on the forum
....
Jason

 
Rep Power: 288

well i jumped the car and now its running. i drove the car a bit (15miles) then restarted the car again, started up strong. so maybe the battery was low. but i probalby bring it to the dealer tomorrow. its still underwarranty, so ill get them to check everything. thanks for the help.

i did notice the defrost not working as well as usual right before the battery/alternator issue.

 
Rep Power: 0

Check your battery, if it already has any deformation (it gets bulk) then the battery is at the end of its life purpose.

That is the same problem I had, I thought it was the alternator also, turns out it was just the battery.

Installing a groundwire kit may help prolong battery life.

 
Rep Power: 288

so i got the dealer to check it out, they told me they couldnt find anything wrong with the car. they gave me print outs of the test they did and the battery was fine and fully charged and the alternator wasnt busted. weird...

 
Rep Power: 302

Something similar happened to my 2k2 a while ago. I didn't drive it over the weekend, and monday the car was dead. I re-charged the battery, and all is fine. One year later, it still has not repeated this. I even let it sit fo 3 weeks once and it started right up. I'm guessing it was a fluke in the charging system. It's really weird, but so far, so good.

 
Rep Power: 0

mine did the exact same thing on saturday, got a new battery but that was not it, taking it honda today

anyone know how much for a new alternator and install

 
Rep Power: 288

the battery indicator should go on if the alternator fails right?

 
Rep Power: 0

called honda and they sayed for a swap for my alternator for a new one would be 347 dollars

that's bs

 
Rep Power: 338

well if you got a 01, you might just need a new battery.. i just replaced mine.. batteries last roughly 4-5 years...

it will still start if its jumped, but it will click if you try to start it after a while...

 
Rep Power: 0

it is an 2001 civic with 180,000 miles on it

 
Rep Power: 0

don't change anything, Honda said you're OK. I had a similar problem with my previous car 1996 Suzuki Sidekick Sport, no problems whatsoever until the day I drove up to buy my Honda, I drove about 140 miles up to the dealer in stop and go traffic got in 5 or more traffic jams, my OD light started blinking, and all this other wierd crap, it turns out the car was idling too low to charge the battery, i had the A/C on at full blast cranking tunes also loud. when the traffic thinned I drove really fast and charged it up problem gone.

 
Rep Power: 338

347? is that parts and labor? cause that seems pretty damn cheap to replace an alternator.. especially on the newer civic... cause you gotta remove the ps pump to get to the alternator... which is a pain...