Honda Car Forum

A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery allowed
it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or in
reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak to
muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does that
make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a lot
of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical energy
while the car is running?

Once I replaced the battery, the car was back to normal. I have no idea if
its just a weird battery problem or if the alternator needs to be replaced.
I would like to find out before taking it to a Sears, for example. If I
know the alternator is bad, I'd rather pick a Honda specialty shop.

Any hints on testing the car's ability to charge the battery, without moving
it to a Sears, for example? A friend told me there was a headlight test to
check the alternator working properly.

Well if you use your headlights as a high drain test while the car is
running with the old battery then yes it is a decent test of the alternators
output. If the car is running and the battery is discharged then the
headlights would be dim if the alternator is not putting out enough juice.
If they stay bright while the car is running and the battery is not good
then you can probably safely assume the alternator is putting out.

It is possible to have a battery so discharged that if you try to move it it
will kill the engine but I wouldn't count on it. It sounds to me like you
should have your car checked out. Any shop can do an alternator/battery
test.

How old is the battery? Anything more than about 5 years in a climate not
subject to extreme desert heat and I say you got your money's worth out of
it.

The fuel pump is probably using just about the same amount of amperage
idling as when it is under way.

I would not go onto the path of finding out what things use up energy under
the hood while running. I would just get the charging system checked.

A simple volt meter test can tell you if the alternator is putting out
enough volts. The headlight test will help with amps if there is no other
equipment available.


"Pat" <hotpatpar@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xieLd.329$g16.275@trndny08...
>A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery
>allowed
> it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or in
> reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak to
> muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does
> that
> make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a
> lot
> of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical
> energy
> while the car is running?
>
> Once I replaced the battery, the car was back to normal. I have no idea if
> its just a weird battery problem or if the alternator needs to be
> replaced.
> I would like to find out before taking it to a Sears, for example. If I
> know the alternator is bad, I'd rather pick a Honda specialty shop.
>
> Any hints on testing the car's ability to charge the battery, without
> moving
> it to a Sears, for example? A friend told me there was a headlight test to
> check the alternator working properly.
>
>

I suspect you solved your problem. Most likely your ALT light would be
on if it wasn't charging right. The previous battery must have not been
able to hold a charge. When they go like this, the alternator's voltage
is supposed to be around 14V when running, but - because the battery
was bad - the voltage was most likely much less than that.

The headlight test is good but a better way is to put a volt meter
across the battery and make sure you see about 14V across it with the
engine running. This would indicate that the alternator is working
properly.

(you can still go to sears, though -- they have a cheap digital
multimeter on sale this weekend for sub $10

Remco

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:43:25 GMT, "Pat" <hotpatpar@hotmail.com> wrote:

>A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery allowed
>it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or in
>reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak to
>muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does that
>make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a lot
>of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical energy
>while the car is running?
>
>Once I replaced the battery, the car was back to normal. I have no idea if
>its just a weird battery problem or if the alternator needs to be replaced.
>I would like to find out before taking it to a Sears, for example. If I
>know the alternator is bad, I'd rather pick a Honda specialty shop.
>
>Any hints on testing the car's ability to charge the battery, without moving
>it to a Sears, for example? A friend told me there was a headlight test to
>check the alternator working properly.

Yeah I had a battery do something almost the same once. It was getting
near dusk and I could drive the car (a CRX) but if I turned the
headlights on the engine would quit. Park lights I could get away
with. No the alternator belt wasn't loose or anything like that. A new
battery the next day and all was well. When cars had generators you
could even run them without a battery if you kept the revs up, but
alternators do funny things when the battery isn't right.

Remco wrote:
>
> I suspect you solved your problem. Most likely your ALT light would be
> on if it wasn't charging right. The previous battery must have not been
> able to hold a charge. When they go like this, the alternator's voltage
> is supposed to be around 14V when running, but - because the battery
> was bad - the voltage was most likely much less than that.
>
> The headlight test is good but a better way is to put a volt meter
> across the battery and make sure you see about 14V across it with the
> engine running. This would indicate that the alternator is working
> properly.
>
> (you can still go to sears, though -- they have a cheap digital
> multimeter on sale this weekend for sub $10
>
> Remco

To be more exact, the Helm manual specifies 14.5 V +/- 0.6V for a
healthy charging system. Have someone step on the brakes while
measuring, as this defeats the fuel saving low-output mode.

Pat wrote:
> A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery allowed
> it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or in
> reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak to
> muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does that
> make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a lot
> of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical energy
> while the car is running?

the computer. flaky batteries can give flaky performance. any $3 harbor
freight voltmeter should give you a decent idea if the alternator is
still good.

First, thanks for the info. I will check the charging system today and
report back the results.


"SoCalMike" <mikein562athotmail@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cOKdndQImuPKW2DcRVn-tQ@comcast.com...
> Pat wrote:
> > A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery
allowed
> > it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or
in
> > reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak
to
> > muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does
that
> > make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a
lot
> > of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical
energy
> > while the car is running?
>
> the computer. flaky batteries can give flaky performance. any $3 harbor
> freight voltmeter should give you a decent idea if the alternator is
> still good.

In article <xieLd.329$g16.275@trndny08>, "Pat" <hotpatpar@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> A dead '95 Civic battery gave unusual results. Jumpering the battery allowed
> it to idle the engine, but the moment I attempted to move it forward or in
> reverse, the engine would stop. Its as though the battery was too weak to
> muster enough energy to propel the car, but it could idle the car. Does that
> make any sense? Does the Civic have an electric fuel pump that uses up a lot
> of energy when in drive? What UNDER THE HOOD things use up electrical energy
> while the car is running?
>
> Once I replaced the battery, the car was back to normal. I have no idea if
> its just a weird battery problem or if the alternator needs to be replaced.
> I would like to find out before taking it to a Sears, for example. If I
> know the alternator is bad, I'd rather pick a Honda specialty shop.
>
> Any hints on testing the car's ability to charge the battery, without moving
> it to a Sears, for example? A friend told me there was a headlight test to
> check the alternator working properly.

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"Remco" <whybcuz@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1107129960.505352.240510@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I suspect you solved your problem. Most likely your ALT light would be
> on if it wasn't charging right. The previous battery must have not been
> able to hold a charge. When they go like this, the alternator's voltage
> is supposed to be around 14V when running, but - because the battery
> was bad - the voltage was most likely much less than that.


Here is the results of the battery test.

With a new Sears Battery to replace the old one, the car is able to start
and drive. It hasn't really been driven since the incident with the bad
battery. However, when I placed a Volt meter across the leads, I got the
following results.

(1) Battery Voltage with No Lights, Engine Off - 12.47 V

(2) Battery Voltage with Headlights On, Engine Off - 11.87 V

(3) Battery Voltage with No Lights, Engine Idling On - 12.29 V



This would appear to indicate its the alternator. Maybe that's what is was
all along. A run down battery and an alternator, unable to generate enough
juice.

Is it absolutely the alternator with the above 12.29 V reading? Could it be
a loose connection or some other thing?

Pat wrote:

> Is it absolutely the alternator with the above 12.29 V reading? Could it be
> a loose connection or some other thing?

if the engine is warmed up, idling normal, belt tight and all
connections to the alt and battery are clean and tight, then its very
likely the alternator