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Background: From my previous post, I changed the condensor fan motor recently and notice that the car was struggling to keep its idle after the fan turns off. No big deal. Then the car will lose power whenever I try to start it but that was at random.
To my current situation: I am at a shopping plaza with a ‘dead” car. The clock and radio works along with the interior lights. But any load on the battery like headlights or starting, it dies. Normally I’ll just jiggle the negative cable but that is not working. My worst fear had come true, I’m stuck. Any tip helps. Plus I have my tools.
Vehicle in question: 2000 Honda Accord.
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almost sounds like you have some sort of connection issue, typically if wiggling wiring fixes the issue then yea you may have some problems with connections somewhere.
as with any situation with electronics check the battery first, is it within spec 12.6V static and doesn’t drop below 9.6V during starting then your battery may be fine, is it clean, are the connections clean and tight with no corrosion, if all these things check out then start diagnosing other things, i have seen old dead batteries or bad connections do wonky things, like not allow my car to start for example.
if the battery is good and all connections are tight and clean, check ground connections and wiring, especially to the battery… you may have enough juice running through the system to run simple things like the radio, but once the electrical demands go up because of poor wiring or connections or other the system may not be able to keep up.
I did suspect connection issue. But this time, the car has power but dies upon starting. Unfortunately I don’t have a voltmeter so i can’t check the voltage. But i need a way to start the car so i can get home.
I am made it home after removing the negative cable and clearing out any debris that was near it and I noticed in attempting to remove the positive cable, the terminal was moving with the cable when I wiggled it. Is that a bad sign?
Brought a voltmeter and here are the measurement I grabbed:
At the terminals with the car off: 12.6
Upon starting: 9.5 – 9.8
In terms of numbers, the battery is good but I’m wondering if there is a possibility if the ignition, especially the key ignition, is to blame. There were moments where the car will not indicate that the key was in the ignition unless the key is completely flat.you mean to tell me that the terminal that is part of the battery was moving as you tried to remove the cable? i don’t think it should do that, and a ignition switch can also be a issue, i have seen bad ignitions prevent cars from starting before…. i would test that too don’t just replace it, diagnose.
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