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Sedans Honda Accord Honda Accord (1990-1993) Maintenance and Repair
1304 messages, Last post on Sep 05, 2008 at 5:07 AM
You are in the Honda Accord Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: elroy5 (Jul 08, 2008 7:43 pm) I went back to Autozone. They tested the new battery and alternator. Both are fine. They did not know what still cause this, as the problem still exist. The battery location seems fine along with the connections (nothing loose). So the problem is not from the alternator, could be the Starter? and what do you mean by main relay?
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Replying to: aspring (Jul 10, 2008 3:16 pm) The only thing you are doing when 'jumping' the vehicle, is connecting up a known battery of working voltage to your battery. If the starter had a problem, which battery is connected doesn't matter. Since you know you have a good battery and alternator, the next thing to eliminate is whether something is draining down your battery. If you have a charged good battery, and lights are left on (or something is draining down the battery), then you will end up with a 'discharged' good battery. When you try to start, there isn't enough voltage and you get the clicking. You come along and jump it, give it the right voltage, and the car starts up. The way to figure this out, is to first confirm first that something is draining down the battery. With a digital voltmeter, measure and record the voltage on the battery after you stop the car. (Should be in the 13.2-14.2 volt range) (Obviously check to make sure NOTHING is on ...... inside lights, outside lights, things plugged into the power outlets, etc). Measure the voltage every hour for a number of hours. If you are finding the voltage dropping, then either the battery is bad (which you verified that it wasn't), or something is drawing current. If you disconnect the positive lead and put a test light in series, if the light is on then something is drawing current. Depending now on your diagnostic skills (and if you have an electrical schematic for your vehicle), you can start pulling fuses to see if you can get the light to go out. If the light goes out with a fuse pull, then you know that something on that circuit is drawing power. I have seen vehicles with a light on in the trunk (bad switch causing light on), and a bad switch on power seat (leaving motor trying to adjust), bad relay causing radiator fan to stay on, etc. Just last month my daughter left the inside lights turned on during the day (couldn't see that it was lit).
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Replying to: aspring (Jul 10, 2008 3:16 pm) http://techauto.awardspace.com/ignition.html |
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Replying to: kiawah (Jul 10, 2008 3:36 pm) I opened the hood today and spent sometime looking into the connections. I saw the wire that connects the starter to the battery really loose. So I cliped it firmly. I will see if this will fix the problem...if not, I will try other possibilities. |
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Replying to: aspring (Jul 11, 2008 5:57 pm) How could that be loose, if you had the battery checked at autoparts store? They would have tightened it.....
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Hi, I need some help with a problem I have with my 1993 Honda Accord, 142,000 miles. Over the past several months, my car has been jumping/hesitating/stuttering. Initially, it happened so rarely I thought I had gone over something on the road. It happened more frequently, I started to pay attention. It felt as though I had driven over speed bumps. The car would lose power, stutter/jump several times and then everything would go back to normal. These events were sporadic. Never happened on acceleration or deceleration, but occurred when cruising (40-50 mph). I took the car to the mechanics who have worked with my car for years. They all said, “sounds like spark plug problem”. They found the engine gasket needed replacing, oil in the spark plug wells- I guess as a result of the gasket problem- and wires to the distributor old and cracked. I paid the $$$, drove the car for a couple of days and the problem was not fixed. Back to the mechanic. Faulty distributor wires… which they replaced. Problem still not fixed. Right now this occurs on a daily basis. The car will develop a throaty growl, hesitate a little, then back to normal. I have been thinking back as to when I started to notice this, as my old Honda is a great driving car. They had replaced all my belts some months ago and I think it was after this that I began to notice this problem. I would appreciate any suggestions or advice anyone has. Sincerely Anne |
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Replying to: kiawah (Jul 11, 2008 8:10 pm) |
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| hi, i'm totally new at this and not very mechanicly savy. but from reading different posts on this site i know there is alot of good help here from good people. i replaced both belts, power steering belt, and ac and alternator, which use the same one. when starting the car, before changing the belts, the belts would make squeeking sound. well, the ac belt would make sound when ac was turned on, would last for about 5 to 7 seconds then stop. i decided to replace with new belts. no noise for the first test drive. following day, it became worse than before replacing belts. only does it when starting car and initially turning on ac. i thought i adjusted the alternator as high as possible to keep an adequate tension. is there another area where the tension of the belts can be adjusted?? is there an actual tensioner device on the car i don't know about? how can i tighten the belts?? Thanks in advance. | |
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Replying to: kiawah (Jul 11, 2008 8:10 pm) I did not drive the car for two days. This morning, the car did not start, there was not even any sound. I noticed that the AC knob was on; could the reason be the AC is leaking some power and draining the battery...this is frustrating. My cosuin felt happy and kept repeating that the problem could be from the starter, and that I am not listening to him...LOL; that more frustrating.
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Replying to: aspring (Jul 23, 2008 3:15 pm) - the battery is defective, or - there is something 'on' in the vehicle, which is drawing a current while the vehicle is turned off, and drawing all of the current out of the battery while it sits for two days. I don't remember your situation, but the first step is to have an autoparts chain test your battery and alternator under load, which they'll do for free. The battery needs to be able to hold the power and deliver it when needed. The purpose of the alternator is to 'fill' the battery back up. So if we assume your battery an alternator are okay (you really do need to verify that first), then your battery would be fully charged when you turn it off. You can verify that by measuring with a digital voltmeter, should be at least 13.0 volts. If you battery then is drawn down when you try to start (test with a voltemeter, and less than say 12 volts), then something is drawing down. By the way, you can buy digital voltmeters relatively cheaply at an autoparts store or radio shack, among other places. The way to find what is drawing down your battery takes some trial and elimination, and is helpful if you have electrical schematics. If you disconnect the + cable from the battery, and put a test light (can be purchased at autoparts) from the +cable to the +battery terminal....if the light is on then something is wanting to draw current. You can start pulling the fuses, to help figure out whether it's something on that circuit or not. If this is beyond your capabilities, then take it to a shop who has the background to troubleshoot electrical problems. I've seen things on like: - trunk lights not turning off - power seat with a defective switch, leaving power to the motor - defective aftermarket alarms - defective engine computers - defective diodes in the alternator (won't find this via fuse, but the alternator test will find this) - defective door switch, leaving the inside lights on - my daughter leaving the dome light on  - defective power window switch - defective relay, leaving circuits powered when the key was off Good luck |
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