My civic is having issues, plesae help!

[sideshowrich]

I have this posted in Let's Get Technical too, just to get more ideas on what might be wrong.
Okay, first off, I have a 1999 civic DX. Tonight, I went outside to start it, warm it up, and clean all the snow off it. I had it running for about 5 minutes, when I opened the trunk to throw an umbrella in, and I pushed my speaker box over. When I got back in the car to go, I noticed my windshield wipers were a bit slower than normal. i figured, no big deal, and left. I got maybe half a mile down the road, and I noticed my headlights were not nearly as bright as they usually are, same with my interior lights. I had tried to turn my CD player on, but it cut out. I pulled into a nearby gas station to see what was going on, and I made the mistake of turning off the car. When I tried to restart the car, the lights on the gauge cluster would come on, but then the car wouldn't start, just turn over a few times, then nothing, then a clicking noise and the cluster lights would flash with the clicks. The lights would work, but wouldn't be quite as bright.
My fiance came with some jumper cables, and we were able to get the thing going, but the voltmeter wouldn't go above 11. I tried to drive away after she left, but the car quit again on me. I said screw it, so I called my friend to pick me up, left the car, and we went to the restaurant.
We came back after eating, and he gave me a jump, this time I let the car sit for 15 minutes attatched to his. I was able to get the car home, but the voltmeter still read 11 all the way. When i got to my driveway, I let it run for a few minutes, and the voltage gradually dropped to about 8, and started idling at about 750 RPMs (I think). I shut it off, went inside, and grabbed my manual, but there's nothing in it about electrical system troubleshooting with my symptoms, so here I am.
I think when I moved the speaker box earlier, the power wire and the ground wire might have made contact, as when I was at the gas station the first time, I went in the trunk, thinking that might be the problem. I pulled the ground wire away from the power wire, and it sparked. Could this have been the cause of the problems? And what could be the cause of the dimmed lights and inability to start?

[Shinji]

mm.. sounds like a battery or alternator problem

I would sooner say alternator because of how you said it won't move below or past 11. I would check to see if it was still working by taking it to an Autozone or somewere that has a battery/alternator check unless you have a volt gauge that can handel the amount of volts your car is putting out.. which you probably don't have. but you may be looking at a new alternator man.

[CivicSiRacer]

My guess is your battery or alternator is gone. I'm guessing the alternator depending on how many miles you have. You need your battery to start your car and that should be it. The car will run off the alternator UNLESS the alternator is bad then it goes to the battery. Batterys nowadays last about 3-4 years.

Get both checked out at Autozone or Pep Boys. They can see if one or the other (or both) are bad.

[sideshowrich]

I've got just over 78K miles on it. The car won't start without a jump, and will easily start with a jump, but as soon as I disconnect the jumper cables, the voltage drops. I think the battery is the factory battery, at least I haven't had to replace it in the 2 1/2 years I've had the car. This fucking sucks. I wanted this engine to last a few more months, I had planned to swap to a B-series this spring.

[GScivic7]

sounds like alternator troubles to me. But do have both tested at an Autozone or Pep Boys. Remanufactured alt ran me like $150 I believe.

[Zwrangler]

definitely sounds like tha laternator is cutting out or not giving enough juice to the engine. If the car gets started fine then dies when you start driving then it is most likely the alternator struggling to get enough power to the engine. Thats my two cents.

[sideshowrich]

Yeah, it was the alternator, and the battery is going due to this as well. But I was able to get another alternator for a good price, now I just have to wait for it to get here by mail. I'm also gonna splurge on a new Optima Yellow Battery, but not till my taxes come back. Thanks everyone for your help!

[pimp95civ]

if u have an amp tighten your battery wire, if u moved ur speaker box u might have moved a power wire off ur amp which also might be grounding out

[GScivic7]

Originally Posted by sideshowrich

Yeah, it was the alternator, and the battery is going due to this as well. But I was able to get another alternator for a good price, now I just have to wait for it to get here by mail. I'm also gonna splurge on a new Optima Yellow Battery, but not till my taxes come back. Thanks everyone for your help!

Optima batteries are good investments. How much did you pay for the alt?

[sideshowrich]

I got the alternator for $35 plus $20 shipping.

[GScivic7]

damn good deal, lets hope it's not a dud, my second replacement was, but I got it at Schucks so it had a lifetime warranty. I put that warranty to use too lol. Went through 2 more alts in 3 months.

[sideshowrich]

I hope not. I'd be super pissed if I got it installed and it turned out to be no good. I can use my woman's car when I have to go back to work on the 15th, so I'm covered that weekend, but I hope to have things fixed by then.