Hi and thanks in advance for any help,
My problem is my battery is no longer being charged while I drive the
car. I've had the battery tested and it's fine, the alternator has
been tested and it's fine. Could the voltage regulator be bad? I
would be able to at least start the car for a period of ~24 hours if I
drove it for about an hour each day. Now, it won't start at all once I
shut the car off which leads me to believe that the battery is no
longer being charged at all while I'm driving. After I jump the car it
runs great.
Thanks for any help.
-Jason

jrquiz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:
It may not be related to your battery if the car is not starting but
who told you the car is charging ok?

What sort of voltage do you measure across the battery with the car
running? It should be 14.5 V. Turn the head lights on. The voltage
should not appeciably drop.

Turn the car off but leave the head lights on. The voltage may drop to
about 12.5 volts or so but should not drop appreciably below that
voltage.

If it does drop and the car does not start, my first suspect would be
the battery or the wires to the battery (including ground).

If it does not drop yet the car does not start, it could be starter
related. Perhaps you have a bad connection from the battery to the
engine. See if hooking a booster cable (negative side only -- leave
positive hanging) from the battery (-) to a large hunk of metal on the
engine helps the starting process. If it now starts, you have a bad
contact in your ground.
Also check the wire from the battery (+) to the starter - it could be
that it has corroded contacts.

Remco

"Remco" <whybcuz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

The above is absolutely where I would start.

Also, how old is the battery, in years and miles?

How many times have you jumped it now?

Jumping does reduce battery life.

A bad battery will reduce the alternator life.

www.autozone.com has a manual specific to your car free
online. It should have directions similar to Remco's for
checking the battery and charging system, which should be
like the following, on page 10, for a 91 Accord.

http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/m...ls/AccordManua
l/400/16-52.pdf

Thanks again for all the advice...

I measured the voltage across the battery with the car started and it
measures about 15v. With the car turned off it measures about 10v and
just slightly under that when the headlights are turned off. I did
notice some corrosion around the positive terminal so cleaned all of
that up. However, after driving the car around for a bit to get it
good and charged it still won't start when I turn off the engine. I
just get what amounts to a repeated "clicking" noise. Is this the sign
of a bad starter?

Also, I can't verify the age or milage of the battery. However, I have
jump started the car many times (20+) over the last couple of months.

jrquiz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote:
Btw, in your case that clicking is most likely due to the battery's
voltage being too low.
You turn the key, the relay clicks on, the starter draws current
bringing the voltage even lower causing the relay to unclick. The
current draw drops causing the voltage to rise, the relay clicks, etc,
etc.

Your starter is most likely just fine.

Thanks everyone for the help. I jumped the car and took it over to an
AutoZone. They ran a test and the battery did come up bad this go
around. Previously, I had the battery tested at a Walmart and an
O'Reilly and both times the battery came up fine. But after testing it
myslef today based on advice from here it did seem that the voltage was
low. At any rate, after I put in the new battery it started right up.
However, I've replaced the battery before in this car <never with a new
one> and evnetually it would fail me. So, this battery is brand new
and I will keep an eye on the problem and let you all know if I have
continued problems.

Thanks again for everyone's help. Time now to head back up to college.

-Jason

"jrquiz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com" <jrquiz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in
news:1136838659.579895.49210 (AT) g14g2000cwa (DOT) googlegroups.com:

Your starter -could- have eroded contacts inside the solenoid.
Some Honda starters solenoids can be replaced,others(Denso) require
replacing the entire starter,or replacing the contacts.
(www.nationsauto.com is where I got the contact parts kit I used on my
Integra Denso starter)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

<jrquiz (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote
I presume the alternator warning light on the dash has never
come on in all this, or you would have mentioned it.

I don't know what you mean by "eventually," but I wouldn't
dismiss the problem being simply your choice of used
batteries and non-OEM ones.

The new battery might do the trick, but I agree you are
right to remain vigilant. You might want to check its
voltage, running w/o headlights, running w/headlights, and
off and monitor this a while. It's a simple enough check
that, while not conclusive, might tell you something.

Also, ISTM all that running the batteries down to low charge
may have taken a toll on the alternator, so be prepared for
that being a problem soon.

You really do want to keep those battery terminals clean.
They're worth checking at least once a month for the
immediate future. I just use baking soda and water. Some
here recommend a certain sealant, whose name or description
I don't remember, too. Ask at Autozone, and they'll probably
know.

Good luck.

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Very interesting. Any idea why this would be so?


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Can you be more specific?


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