dead battery possibly? your input needed..

[Sean Price]

was on my way to work this morning and went to start my 2000 honda civic ex sdn...and it won't turn over..

was running late to work on my first day..so couldn't trouble shoot but did see that the battery light LIT up on the dash.... and the electronic doors still open/lock wit the transmitter..

now i haven't driven the car in about 3-5 days.....

like i sed its a 2000...

do yall think its time to replace the stock battery or how do i test and find out what it is..

any other poiinters in case it ISN"T the battery i.e. what to look for or trouble shoot?

thanks for you help peoples...


oNe

[wakeboard_dude5]

when you attempt to start it, do you hear a clicking noise? that could mean you have a dead battery. The best way to actually test to see if it's dead is to just use a multimeter (handheld device to test volts, ohm's, ect.) and test how many volts the battery is putting out. it should be somewhere between 12 and 14. If it is dead, you might have just left an interior light on which i've done MANY times myself in the past. I would say to try and charge up the battery, or get a jump, and see if it happens again. Now if it does, you might want to look into getting a new battery.

Now if it ISN'T the battery, check all your fuse's. I know in my 93 civic, one moring it wouldn't start. Wouldn't turn over and we couldn't hear the fuel pump at all. All my electronics worked fine so i knew it wasn't the battery. We were ready to replace EVERYTHING we thought could be wrong when i checked the fuse's and it turned out to be the ECU fuse. I think that one was in the engine bay but your car may be different so just look at your owners manual to locate it.

I hope this helps and good luck with the car

[Sean Price]

okay i went to start it today....

i hear no clickin noise......

all the interiour lights come on and the doors open wit the car remote, don't know if that means anything... ???

tommorow i'ma check the fuses and whatnot and possibly jump start it..

but before the jump anyone got any ideas on where to point me in the direction of checkin the fuses? i/e. where do i look?

i[m searchin on the net right now.. but uh i'm like on a 14.4kbs modem connection so uhm it takes me a mad minute....


any tips and info mad apreciated as i need this car runnin...

wish me luck

oNe

[snowman2005]

dude just change ur battery. ur making it more complicated then it needs to be for urself. their not that expensive and if that doesnt work then u start trouble shooting and looking for other stuff. and if u really dont wana buy a battery, borrow one from a friend and see if its really the battery that died

[wakeboard_dude5]

It can't be a dead battey because if there's enough power to have the interior lights on and i'm guessing power door locks are opening, than there should be enough power to make the starter atleast attempt to turn over, which causes that "clicking" sound.

Snowman, i don't know about you, but in my opinion a $30 battery isn't worth buying if it won't fix the problem. Not trying to flame or start an arguement but i had this happen to me before.

Now for the location of the fuse, it's in the engine bay right up by the battery. Once you take off the plastic cover, it should be the little fuse that is farthest to the left and is closest to the windshield (all the way up, all the way over). It's a 15A fuse and in my car it's blue in color. Just pull it out and shine a light through it. You can usually see if it's blown by the metal inside has seperated. Now there should be some spare fuse's that are located in the fuse box inside the car. Just look under the steering wheel and there will be a cover that shows what fuse is for what. It's there that will tell you which are spare's. Now i'm not really sure if it matters, but don't replace it with anything other than a 15A fuse.

[snowman2005]

starting a car takes alot of amps. take the battery to autozone or sumthing im sure theyll do a free check on it.

[Bob1942]

You said in your first statement that the BATTERY LIGHT lit up on the dash ...That little light indicates that the battery is not CHARGING this usually indicates that the ALTERNATOR is not working and is not charging the battery ... To see if the battery is dead or bad turn on the headlights IF they come on then try to start the car with the headlights ON ...A good charged battery will start the car ok with the lights on ...If the battery is low on charge or is bad then when you try to start the car the lights will dim WAY down or even go out completely ...
I just changed the battery on my car because it is 5 years old and we have really bad winters here in Michigan I consider it cheap compared to being towed if the battery dies... BOB

[Bob1942]

I should have said in my previous reply that it looks like you have a bad ALTERNATOR ... Some of the big auto stores will check your alternator for you ... I know they do it if you take out the the alternator and take it in to them to test ... Maybe they will do it in your car ? too ...or diagnose your problem for you ... It don't hurt to ask ? Let your fingers do the walking ! BOB Again

[eckoman_pdx]

Well, my battery died at a show/race a few weeks ago (BOTI). Anyways, I knew it was coming, but it was SOOO dead it wouldn't hold a charge. Had to have someone watch while a friend took me to get a battery my car after I got a jump and drove to park it somewhere(I was already inside). It's not going to be more than $60 for a battery.

The batteries job is simply to start the vehicle...thats it. The alternators job it to POWER the vehcile and assories...power everything and maintaince the battery once the car is running. In fact, you can drive without a battery, pull the battery cables after you get a jump and the car SHOULD still run if the aternator works and is good. YOu can turn on the lights, stereo cranked....etc to simulate added amp pull from the alternator...but if the alternator works the car should run still if you disconnect the battery when it's running.

You can check the battery with a multimeter also to see the charge. Still, It takes more current to start the car than to unlock the doors, run an alarm, etc. Even the stereo will run after the car will not crank, so just becuase those work DOES NOT mean it's not the battery. You can always yank the battery and take it somewhere to be load tested. It'd either be the battary is bad or the alternator isn't putting out a charge and is bad. Jump the car and then disconnect the negative battery cable. The car will then be running off the alternator. Turn on the lights, crank the stereo and have someone follow you on a little drive. If it's till running chances are the alternator is okay and it's as simple as replacing the battery with a new one for $60.

[Sean Price]

..sounds like YOU may be right....


i was able to pull out the fuses and checked any ones that sed 15a on em.. one for the fuel pump and the other for the ERS/SRS ?? and they all looked fine...

thing is i turned on the lights, stereo, ect, ect, and tried startin the car and NOTHING i mean the lights DIMMED slightly but not by much and it does SOUND like its tryin to start up..


hopefully in the next day or so I'ma try to jump start and go from there and see where that leads.. good post and info echo man guy! the rest of you too..

hopefully if its able to be jump started, i'll drive over to autozone and see if they can test it out...


thanks and peace...

oNe

[eckoman_pdx]

Originally Posted by Sean Price

..sounds like YOU may be right....


i was able to pull out the fuses and checked any ones that sed 15a on em.. one for the fuel pump and the other for the ERS/SRS ?? and they all looked fine...

thing is i turned on the lights, stereo, ect, ect, and tried startin the car and NOTHING i mean the lights DIMMED slightly but not by much and it does SOUND like its tryin to start up..


hopefully in the next day or so I'ma try to jump start and go from there and see where that leads.. good post and info echo man guy! the rest of you too..

hopefully if its able to be jump started, i'll drive over to autozone and see if they can test it out...


thanks and peace...

oNe

Hey, no problem!!!

I am always glad to help. That's what we're all here for. To pass on information, learn and share the wealth!!!

Also, if autozone won't do anything (they arn't the most knowledgable), you can try to go to a battery specialty place. Over here, it's under batteries in the yellow pages. It's not hard to load test a battery. I'm willing to be thats the issue, the battery. As I said above though, it's simple enough to find out.

Hope it works out for you, let us know.

[Sean Price]

hey guys finally got a day off work sunday and got hold of some jumper cables to get this going..


jus wanted to aske ONE more quick question....

lets say it is the battery....

does it matter brand? what i'm trying to get at is.....is aight to get a battery from wal mart or autozone for my car?

i mean they can't be that far from OEM right?

also an alternators an alternator no matter what right?

thanks again


oNe

[alfonso2501]

I like the sears die-hard gold. A lot of people would say it’s a waste of money but if you live where the winters get real cold it’ll be the best thing. 100 month limited warranty. The last one I had lasted me 7 years, and it was still in the car when I junked it!

[ricebike]

walmart's are fine as well... the yellow-case ones & their prices/warranties are very competitive w/ autozone/advanceautoparts...

just be sure to get 1 that is mostly over the OEM CCA rating, which they have at walmart.

alternators, is an iffy subject w/ aftermarket remanufactured units...

OEM will kill u w/ price, w/ aftermarket like autozone, they'll back it up w/ a lifetime warranty... i'd make the salesman bench-test the alt before u install it (just a good preventative measure: ~10% of them go bad d/t shipping practices/something goes bad d/t it bouncing around a conveyor...)

get your vehicle tested there in the parking lot for free...go from there

[Killa_CRX]

Have you replaced your battery since getting the car? Most stock batteries only last about 5 years.. you said it's a 2000, and this being 2005, it would be about that time to change the battery.

Originally Posted by wakeboard_dude5

It can't be a dead battey because if there's enough power to have the interior lights on and i'm guessing power door locks are opening, than there should be enough power to make the starter atleast attempt to turn over, which causes that "clicking" sound.

Yes it can... a battery can have a 7-10 volt charge and still power all your accessories, lights, and everything.... with your headlights on, radio on, locks working, dome light on.... that's only going to draw about 30 amps total..
But a starter on a civic takes about 250amps and can take UP TO about 400amps depending on the condition of the engine, and a battery with a low charge (such as one that is dying out) will not provide enough amps to get the engine spinning around fast enough to start, but will still work everything else just fine.

Originally Posted by Bob1942

You said in your first statement that the BATTERY LIGHT lit up on the dash ...That little light indicates that the battery is not CHARGING this usually indicates that the ALTERNATOR is not working and is not charging the battery ...

Actually, no... when the battery light on the dash is on, that just means that the key is turned on, and there is voltage running through the system... the little battery light on the dash is actually directly related to the alternator circuit, if the light is on, that means the field coils in the alternator are receiving current from the battery in order to prepare to start the vehicle. When the light goes off when the vehicle is running the alternator provides it's own field power, so the dash light goes off.

Originally Posted by Sean Price

lets say it is the battery....

IF the car runs fine when it is jumped with jumper cables, it is the battery... replace and forget about it for another 5 years.... or what I would recomend is invest a little money in a dry cell (also known as gel cell) battery (like an optima battery) they will last UP TO 10 years, and have a 7, 8 or 9 year warrenty depending on which model you buy.