Forgive my lack of detail (I give the most I can) as I am doing this for my daughters car and it is in another state with issues and I am not a Honda guy (please don't hold that against me or her)....

We are talking about a 2001 EX with a 3.0l V6. The car died and she changed alternator but the battery does not seem to be getting charged. After changing the alternator 3 hours after the car died (during daylight), they got it running and got on post and to my son-in-laws work building thinking they were good to go. When they came back out, it was dead and would not start. I don't know for sure if the battery had a full charge or not (I suspect not based on the above info) as this all happened on the side of the road.

I have seen several posts about older accords and the wiring issues surrounding alternators and proper charging. Can anyone give me a laundry list of things to check before she has to take it to a shop? They already wanted $500 plus parts for to do what they did on the side of the road. She and her Army husband are pretty handy but have very limited tools and as I stated are in the parking lot at his work.

Any help for my little girl would be much appreciated. Greg

 

First, have to say welcome to HAF.

Next, I'd like to be sure of the issue. Is the starter spinning the engine over but it won't run - yes/no?

No. I'd start with checking the battery cable ends to be sure they are clean and tight. Is/was the charge light coming on?

 

Good day, here is a list of things you need to do
1. Check the battery terminals and wires
2. check to see if there is a parasitic component, like radio etc
3. Make sure you have no wires being grounded to the body of the vehicle.

Hope this helps

 

Thanks all for welcoming me to the forum and for the tips.

I have her checking the wires and taking the battery in for testing (simple first) since it sounds like the car died, they changed the battery, drove it for almost a week and it died again, then they changed the alternator. It "clicked" a few times trying to turned over but never got there. Power off voltage at the battery is 12.6 v.

She did have some corrosion on the positive terminal of the battery and cleaned that off. I will have her check all wires and make sure everything (like her aftermarket radio) is not draining her system.

I will post a status update later today.

Thanks again!

 

Well, the car is back up and running. Seems the alternator went and it took a few days to kill battery #1, battery #2 kept them going for a few more days and when that died, they replaced the alternator. After sitting the car turned over (or tried) but no joy. She took the battery (#2) back in and they tested it and gave it an overnight charge. The car started right up with a fully charged battery. Now she is on her way with the car to have them test the charging circuit and still needs to look real hard at the battery cables.

Am I missing anything before I tell her she is good to drive 400 miles with my grand kids from Kansas to come see us in Moore, Oklahoma?

Greg

 

suggest purchasing an Equus Battery Monitor (< $20), walmart has them. Monitor plugs into cigarette lighter socket and monitors battery voltage. Voltage w/ engine running should be 13.5-14.5 V, probably towards higher end if battery has been discharged.

It is less likely than a bad alternator, but a worn crankshaft pulley can cause similar problems to what she's experienced; car runs fine until battery dies. The pulley bushing wears out and slips relative to inner crankshaft drive preventing proper charging. This problem gave my fits on a Acura TL.

good luck