Is it my alternator or battery?

Question

I bought a 2000 Honda Civic at the tail end of 2004. I can't remember if my car was supplied with a new battery or not. Shortly after I bought the car, I had problems with infrequent delayed starts. A handful of times I've had to turn the key twice to get the car to turnover. Drives fine. Anyhow, I'm zeroing in on 70k miles, my sparkplugs were replaced at 60k and there was no mention of the alternator after service. This morning my car started fine. At lunch it wouldn't start. After my key passed the first catch but before I'd reached "on", I heard a click followed by no response from the engine. No sound whatsoever. Apparantly my lights and stereo work.

The failure is from the alternator, right?

thx michael_s
i looked up recall info at edmunds.com & asked my service manager about it. he says nothing applies to my car. but i'd read about some defect in the ignition switch!!

i've checked for corrosion on the battery, it looks fine...better than fine. it's clean

never had change in the voltage

STATUS UPDATE
the lights, radio, and anything electronic are not working in the car. a friend is saying the whatever is causing the delayed start is causing extra wear on the battery....

in case anyone refers to this for help:
it was my battery. apparantly i left out some pertinent info. for 6 months i lived 2 miles from work & didn't travel on the weekends. i currently live 5 miles from work. this drains the battery because it doesn't get a chance to completely recharge each drive.

Answer 1

Try simply tightening your battery cable ends and cleaning and scraping the battery posts first. The biggest problem with auto repair is everyone goes for the big things first. Start simple work your way up the scale not down, saves money, ya cheapskate! I saw your blog! Then battery re-charge, it may still hold enough juice to play the stereo, then have it checked for trouble on a diagnostic machine. So far you haven't spent more than $30 bucks. After that let the auto techs do their jobs unless you like walking!

Answer 2

I do not believe the failure is in the alternator. I would say that you have a bad connection somewhere in your wiring. My reasoning is that even if your alternator was not working and you had a 100% charged battery, your car would start. But it would only stay running as long as the battery was charged. And with today's lights and electronics, that wouldn't be long. But the car would still start. And being that your car is starting fine most of the time, and the lights and stereo are working tells me the battery is charged fine. So I would think there is a bad connection somewhere. If I were you, the first place I would start is with the battery cables to the battery. These commonly corrode and become messed up with weather and such. by taking them out and cleaning the contact surfaces, this can help with conductivity. In your case, they might not be making any contact at all some of the times. But I would also check the starter and starter solenoid. Sometimes the solenoid can stick and not engage, causing the clicking sound you heard. Just some places to start. But I do not belive that your alternator is the problem.

Answer 3

Ok, if your car drives for more than 15 minutes without dying, it's probably not your alternator, although it could be having intermittent problems. My first bet would be the battery. This is also the safest bet, because you can take it right up to walmart or any parts store and they will check your battery for free to tell you if you have a dead cell. I'd rather you go to Walmart, Autozone, Pepboys, Advanced Auto Parts, or NAPA, because any of the small time stores might tell you that you have a dead cell when you don't. But, it doesn't matter too much, because if the problem IS the alternator, you'll have to get a new battery anyway. Frequent discharge of the battery usually kills the cells.

It could also be your ignition switch(highly unlikely at 70K miles) or your Starter Solenoid(Not really likely either).

If the problem is not your battery or the battery corrosion(**see below), then you need to take it in anyway. They can tell right away what's wrong with it. They'll only charge you $60 to look at it, and if you want to change it yourself or have a friend do it, or just let the mechanics do it, that's up to you at that point. But you'll spend about $300-500(depending on the car) if it's the alternator and you get the mechanics to do it.

Now as for the alternator, have you ever noticed the battery gauge in your car drop suddenly or go below it's normal voltage (14.4 Volts) Your gauge should be a measure between 8 and 18 Volts, and normally there's no markers between them, but your pointer should point almost exactly to the middle of them. Now, if your battery is going, it's going to cause this problem, but it won't suddenly hgappen while you're driving.

Another problem you might be having is that your wiring harnesses got wet or something and they are corroding. Have you cleaned your battery posts lately? You can buy a battery cleaner at the parts store for about 6 bucks. Remove your battery cable and spray it on, according to directions, and pull the cable off so you can clean the post and inside of the connector. NEVER let anything metal cross the battery posts.

Answer 4

A. Bad/corroded battery cable.
B. Bad Starter.
C. Malfunctioning Alarm.

Most likely B.

Answer 5

Autozone should be able to test ur alternator in the car, but from my experience an alternator does not go intermitedly bad, it is either good or bad. Your starter could have a dead spot in it causing the car to not start. I would have to say its ur starter.

Answer 6

SOUNDS LIKE AN ALTERNATOR PROBLEM, COULD ALSO BE THE STARTER. ALSO, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT YOU REPLACED THE BATTERY, IF IT IS THEE ALTERNATOR, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO ALSO REPLACE THE BATTERY.

Answer 7

Take it to advance auto store and they can test it out for you!!!!
~~yes it could be the alternator~~

Answer 8

sounds more like ignition switch or starter to me