Honda Car Forum

Today I was driving to work in a nasty rainstorm. As I was driving over the large puddles of water collecting on the roadway, something strange happened. The red "battery" light on my dashboard lit up, and I had a hard time steering my car. Once I got over the puddle, the problem stopped -- at least until I hit the next puddle, when it happened again. I drive a 2003 Honda Accord EX. I contacted two local Honda dealerships to try and determine what the problem is and they were unable to help as they "had never heard of this before." Before I take the car in to have it looked at I thought I would post this question to see if anyone has had this happen to their vehicle and if so what the problem was and what I can do to correct the problem.Thank you-Amanda

This one's easy. Your fan belt got wet and started slipping. When it did the alternator and power steering quit working momentarily. You need to have the belt tightened. Honda dealer is not to bright in my opinion.

Your belt was slipping when you went through the puddles. The belt drives the alternator and power steering pump. When they stopped working you lost power to the battery and the power steering pump quit turning. When it dried everything started turning again. You may just need a new belt. Good luck.

somehow the water is effecting the power steering pump. when the power steering pump isn't working right, the belt can mess up the alternator as well which is causing ur battery light to come on. maybe u need a better splashgaurd or something.

Lose battery cableWater getting into the Coil, Cap, Button regionsWater getting into the spark plugs, boots not pushed down.Has to be something electrical thats for sure. Cause the water is shorting something out as it splashes up from the puddle then the circuit is able to connect again once the majority of the water has passed. So that says there must be wind, heat or motion within that region as well.Might be rubber gromet plugs on firewall to main computer not sealed as well.

Your belts were becoming saturated with water allowing the alternator belt to slip ( battery light ) and the power steering belt to slip ( steering get harder ). You might have your belts checked. They could need adjusting or replacement.

sounds like most of the ppl here have the right idea...the belt drives all your accesories but on a 03 accord there is no adjustment in it, the adjustment is done automatically by the tensioner...so everything is acting normal...just try goin through big puddles like that a bit slower and u will be fine!

First response sounds about right.Additionally, the battery shaped light indicates a problem with the alternator and charging system; not the battery itself.

I just had a similar problem on mine. 2 months ago drove through a huge puddle maybe about a foot high and my car battery light came on and the steering became stiff, but all the lights inside my dashboard shut off too and my radio.it came back in like 2 seconds after. Scary thing was this happened on the highway.

2 days ago another huge thunderstorm and I had to drive through a few big puddles. Each time I ran through a puddle the battery light came on, steering became hard and a screeching noise was heard.

I brought it to Honda and they did all the tests. Everything came back fine, but told me that the belt tire needed to be changed so I was charged $150 for it.

Brought it to my local mechanic after who use to work for Honda told me pretty much what the first poster said.