Alternator?

[87accordlxi]

i was on my way home for the summer when my radio suddenly kept turning off and on, as well as the cruise control and clock. i had the A/C on, so i turned that off, as well as the vents. that seemed to work for a while, as the radio, CC, and clock worked after that. then about an hour later, i was getting off the highway and suddenly everything went out. radio, clock, windows, wipers, everything. i prayed i would make it home, and sure enough, the car died as soon as i was pulling into my driveway. after that, i had no power. the car wouldnt restart at all. i pushed it into the garage and now i have it hooked up to a charger. the battery was completely drained, as the charger was pumping out over 10 amps when i first hooked it up.

im thinking theres three scenarios. 1) the alternator. 2) the battery (unlikely, since the battery is fairly new) and 3) the battery cable connection. anyone have any thoughts?

[Dutchboy]

It would be a good guess that the alternator is shot..or some wiring at least...dumb thing to say but check the belt first....
Since yours is fuel injection it needs a charge to run...thats why it sucks if it goes on you!

check that the wiring is all on and then go to the alternator..isnt to bad to rebuild them..

Hope this helps...
Ben

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Could also be a voltage regulator, either not putting out enough juice to charge the battery, or putting out too much juice and it fried the battery.

Here's what I'd do to check it out.
-Check ALL the wires (and the belt). Battery cables (at both ends of the cable, not just at the battery), alternator wires, etc. Make sure they are nice and clean and screwed in tight.
-Start the car up
-Disconnect one of the battery cables (I'd use negative). If it dies then you can pretty much bet it's your alternator. I'm not sure how to check the voltage regulator, though :rolleyes:

[shepherd79]

if i read manual correctly, voltage regulator attached to the alternator. you will have to take it out and take it apart. i would recoment just replacing the hole alternator. my friends car did this to him last sunday. it too as 1 hour to do the job, and we didn't have to drop the axel.

[vtec11]

does the red battery light come on ?

it ususally does if the alternator is dead.

[87accordlxi]

no, the battery light didnt come on.

it turned out to be possibility #3. the cable was kinda loose on the battery terminal because of the wire from the foglights that had to be connected to the positive terminal. because the cable was loose, the battery wasnt getting a charge and eventually drained. we fixed that, and i ran some errands this afternoon and everything was fine. but thanks for the insight guys!

[TeKKnoTeKK]

Seems like it's always the most simple thing, and since it's the most simple thing, that is the last think you think it could be :) Happens to me all the time :D

[smufguy]

good point to remember. dont smoke weed when u work on cars. :D