Honda 91 accord problem?

I have a honda accord year 1991 I changed the alternator on it and new battery. But for some reason it keeps on dying and i always end up having to jump start the car. Everything's off in the car i just don't know i was hoping maybe i could get some advice.

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  • Apparently something IS on in the car. One obvious thing to check is the trunk light. If you can't find what's on, you'll need to track it down. You can narrow down where the problem is. Disconnect the battery negative terminal. Connect a 12 volt test light between the battery negative terminal and the chassis. It should light up at least dimly. Now start pulling fuses one at a time until you find the one that makes the light go out. Now you've found the circuit that's draining the battery.

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    Honda 91 accord problem?

    I have a honda accord year 1991 I changed the alternator on it and new battery. But for some reason it keeps on dying and i always end up having to jump start the car. Everything's off in the car i just don't know i was hoping maybe i could get some advice.

  • A voltmeter would be a valuable tool for hunting this down. Since it is dying we can rule out parasitic load - the alternator should be keeping up with the load even if it is an amp high. That leaves us with two major possibilities: the alternator is not putting out voltage or the alternator is not connected to the battery.

    Aargh! I can't go much farther unless you have a voltmeter, so I am going to say "you need one" and leave it at that. They are inexpensive, easy to find at hardware and auto parts stores (the first source is a Radio Shack meter), and very handy to have. Now I can go on....

    There are two voltages to look at first. The really important one is the voltage to ground at the alternator output (the big terminal). With the engine running there should be about 13.5-14.5 volts (higher at colder temperatures). If not, the alternator is not putting out charging voltage. The next measurement is from the alternator output to the positive terminal of the battery. It should be less than 0.1 volts DC. If not, the alternator fuse is probably blown.

    If the alternator is not charging, shut down the engine, remove the connector from the alternator and look at the voltages on the pins. For this purpose we only care about two of the pins, the ones that are parallel to each other, not the two that are in line with each other. If you hold the connector so the center divider looks like a "T" the lower left is the warning lamp pin (wht/blu wire) and the lower right is the ignition voltage (blk/yel wire) that starts the alternator. Put the ignition switch in the normal running position (warning lights come on). On each of the lower pins the voltage to ground should be the same as battery voltage, about 12 volts. The ignition voltage, on the right, is the critical one. It comes through a 15A fuse in the middle of the bottom row of the under-dash fuse panel, powering the ECM and TCM. That fuse has to be good because the car will die instantly without it. If the voltage on that pin is not bad but the alternator is not putting out charging voltage the alternator is bad. Turn off the ignition.

    If the alternator is trying to charge but there is more than a trivial voltage between the alternator and the battery positive terminal the 80A alternator fuse in the under-hood fuse box must be bad. That is the plastic box on the passenger side. When you pop the cover off you will see two large wires (I will call that side the top), the left one going to the alternator and the right one going to the battery. Right below those there is an 80A fuse - that is the one that protects the battery from a short circuit on the alternator output. Start the engine and verify again there is significant voltage (even half a volt) between those large wires near the fuse with the voltmeter. If so, figure out how that fuse comes out (tiny phillips screws, if I recall right) and get a replacement fuse. Larger auto parts stores are likely to have one but you may have to go to Honda.

  • Here's what comes to my mind is either the starter or the cables running to the fuse box, starter, alternator, engine block ground and their connections.On that old of a car you really may need to replace some or all of the cables unless they've already been replaced and are in good shape.Without getting too technical the cables can rot out internally and one good sign of this is check the cables one at a time at each end and look for the wires you see clamped to the connector.If you see corrosion at and along the wire and the connector etc the wire internally might be rotted too.

    What I'd suggest is go over all the cables follow them closely and have the battery disconnected when doing so.Make sure the connections aren't loose at either end then see if you can see obvious signs of rust or corrosion where they connect up to, this means disconnect each cable end one at a time.For example the main thick positive cable going to the starter, remove the cable, clean the cable connector well with a wire brush and sandpaper.Take a wire brush and clean the post the cable connects up on starter, clean the nut you removed and any other connections, wires running to the starter.

    Now even if the alternator was rebuilt or new or used it could be faulty and one thing it has is a voltage regulator this part could of caused your alternator and battery you had in the car to over work or fail.This one reason why you want to make sure that the cable going to the alternator is up to par and it has solid clean connections at both ends.Some of these cables have a fusible link inside them if for example if the alternator cable had a blown fusible link that would cause the alternator not to charge the battery or even work.

    Hope that helps and best of luck.

  • 1991 Honda Accord Battery

  • Make sure all battery cables have good connection and make sure your alternator is hooked up right. You may want to check and make sure that any secondary ground cables like the one from the motor to sub frame has a good connection or that its even hooked up at all sometimes they get taken off to do repair and don't get hooked back up if they're over looked.

  • Battery terminals are cleaned and tights?Charging output of alternator?Defective parts are common.Have them tested again.

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