starting problems

[syvikraicer]

its a civic....when i cranked the car, all power went out.....so i got some jumper cables and jumped it.....i got power on my dash and everything but when i tried to start it all power just died again......i have a fairly new battery, i did have an alternator that was going bad.....could it be a bad alternator?

[SecretAgent]

sounds like a bad starter. while you are cranking the car, all other accessories are shut off, so all battery power can be diverted to the starter. when you have a car that isn't starting is when you finally notice this though. check the starter out and make sure it is still good. to do so check all the voltages at the solenoid leads. make sure the big wire that is bolted to the starter is getting 12v. then check the small wire that is in the spade connector, make sure that gets 12v when the key is in the "start" position. then check for continuity to ground. if you have all of those, then you have a bad starter. if you are getting weird voltages, or no voltages, then you have a short circuit/loose wire or bad ground somewhere.

if you need any further help, PM me.

[WRXTuan]

its a civic....when i cranked the car, all power went out.....so i got some jumper cables and jumped it.....i got power on my dash and everything but when i tried to start it all power just died again......i have a fairly new battery, i did have an alternator that was going bad.....could it be a bad alternator?

Well i'm not sure what the problem is, but to check if u have a bad alternator, get your car started (if u can), and remove one of the terminal wire from the battery (could create some sparks, but no real harm.) If the car itself then cannot keep the engine going, (spudders and stops) then u have a bad alternator. Hope u can get your problem solved.

T.Vo

[SecretAgent]

Well i'm not sure what the problem is, but to check if u have a bad alternator, get your car started (if u can), and remove one of the terminal wire from the battery (could create some sparks, but no real harm.) If the car itself then cannot keep the engine going, (spudders and stops) then u have a bad alternator. Hope u can get your problem solved.

T.Vo


NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. DON'T EVER DO THIS ON A COMPUTER CONTROLLED VEHICLE. Disconnecting the battery makes the alternator think that the system is completely discharged and will start pumping out all the voltage and amps that it can. Modern ECM's can only handle about 5v going through them. The voltage regulators that control that 5v can only handle up to 16v coming into them. You disconnect the battery, and the alternator can put out up to 20v and 200+ amps. The voltage regulator of the alternator reads voltage on the battery to decide how much the alternator needs to put out. You take that away, and you're screwed. Blown fuses usually won't even save the ECU.

Take the car to Autozone and have them test the alternator for free, if you really think it's that, although it's probably not.

[David NA->FI]

Well i'm not sure what the problem is, but to check if u have a bad alternator, get your car started (if u can), and remove one of the terminal wire from the battery (could create some sparks, but no real harm.) If the car itself then cannot keep the engine going, (spudders and stops) then u have a bad alternator. Hope u can get your problem solved.

T.Vo

:roflmao: :roflmao:

[WRXTuan]

My bad, i didn't know the civic's year, last time i did it, 95 camry.

T.Vo

[SecretAgent]

My bad, i didn't know the civic's year, last time i did it, 95 camry.

T.Vo

you shouldn't do it on any car made after 1978.