So here's my problem that I can't seem to solve. It started when my alternator belt broke, which was a simple diagnosis and fix. From there, the car would run, but not with headlights, when it would slowly die in a short time, like it was running off my battery. So I replaced the battery, which needed to be replaced anyway, but that obviously didn't fix the problem. Next, after having my alternator checked by 3 places, I replaced that as well. It read low on an alternator test for voltage, but 2 days later the car died again after running the headlights. Next replacement was the battery clamps; they were thin and had corroded pretty badly, but although the new clamps seemed to fix the problem for a few days, again the car died.

Now I'm out of ideas. A possible short in the circuit that's draining power but not blowing a fuse? That's my best thought right now. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

-Joseph

 

What year/model accord do you have? Does your battery light come on?

Have the replacement alternator tested. The replacement alternator could be bad out of the box.

Check that all ends of both battery cables are clean and secure. Also check the wire going from the alternator to the battery.

 

That's odd. I just had to replace my battery, and my alternator was fine. As soon as my car was jumped, it ran and drove fine. It sounds like you might have gotten a bad alternator, it happens, I replaced the alternator on my old Mark VII about a dozen times because of remans (ugh!)

If that's still not it, get out the voltmeter and check every fuse with the car off. Doing this you'll be able to find out if a system is pulling power while the car is off (indicating a bad ground)only the radio fuse should have a constant amount of power to it, and it's not a whole lot when the car is off. Also, if you have an alarm that will draw a little too. Same with the clock. But I'm pretty sure that's it.

Good luck man, I hate electrical goblins!

 

Would some kind of short be able to draw off enough power? And why just when the headlights are on? I'm just curious, electrical problems have never really haunted me, this is kinda new...

 

The car's a 90 Accord. The battery light doesn't come on, which has plagued me, except for when I turn on the air conditioner (another post-belt-break condition). Wires and clamp connections are good. Is there any connection with the alternator belt breaking the alternator going bad?

 

You should check the alternator output voltagewith the car running. Use a volt meter and check the voltage, it should be above 13.5 volts dc. If your voltage is in the 12's or lower, your alternator is not charging the battery & your car will run untill the battery is drained. If you have good charging voltage then you probably have something that is draining your battery. If your battery is beingdrained when the car is off you need to identify the cause. To check for a drain an easy way to do it is to use a test light "12 volt light bulb with test leads". One of the battery terminals is removed and the test light is placed in series with the battery "one end on the battery terminal the other end on the cable terminal". When there is a drain the light will come on. If this is your case you will need to start pulling fuses untill you find the culprit. Good luck and hope this helps.