My civic is having issues, please help!

[sideshowrich]

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?

[xoriceboi]

I had the same case as you.....you might need a new battery and likely a new alternator as well.

[Ricochet]

Most autoshops will test your alternator for free. I would take your car to one and test that before replacing the battery, or anything else. If your alternator's hosed, I'd recommend buying one from a junkyard as they are cheaper there (opposed to buying a new one for $300-$400). If your alternator is fine, maybe your battery just needs replaced. You should replace your battery every 3-4 years anyways. Those are easy to do, just unplug the old one and swap in the new. You could also buy a capacitor (I'd recommend a 1 or 1.5 farad) for your subs to lessen the power draw. I have a .5 farad cap for a 500 watt amp and it hardly did anything, that's why I recommend a higher one for your relatively larger power problems.

[sideshowrich]

I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine, he's one of the head mechanics at the local Firestone, he had me test the alternator with a test light, he thinks its toast, and might have killed the battery as well. I don't have a big sound system, just a 400W (I think) Kenwood amp and a 10" Rockford Fosgate sub. Only once in a while do I ever turn it up loud enough to create a big power draw. I'm gonna replace the battery too just to be safe, maybe pick up one of those Optima batteries, I heard they are pretty good.
As for the alternator, let me ask this. Would an alternator for my engine (D16Y7) also fit on a B-series as well? I ask because I plan on shelling out for a swap comes this spring, and if the alternators are compatible, I was going to spring for a higher output alternator now.