89 accord sei

My son has a charging problem, he has gone thru 2 brand new batteries in a
weeks time. He said they took the battery terminal off and the car stayed
running is that a good indication the altenator is still good or not? He
has also blown 2 main computer fuse in the last 3 months, which leads me
to believe sometthing other than the altenator is the problem,and I know
nothing about foreign car. Any advise is appreciated.

 

I cannot speak to that testing method as I've never used it. The charging
system should be tested using a load test. A load tester places a variable
load on the whole charging system with the car running to determine its
charging capacity.

Eric

 

The battery disconnection trick is something that should not be done on any
car with a computer; the voltage from even a good alternator can become
wildly unstable and damage electronics.

Elle cautions her web page
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id13.html is a work in progress,
but it is certainly complete enough to give you the advice you need.

Mike

 

Thanks for the link Mike. I hadn't seen Elle's page before. I disagree
with one of the statements though.

In my experience, more often than not, when a Honda's starter clicks the
starter contact needs to be replaced. This is an inexpensive part that can
be installed into the starter typically with the starter still in the
vehicle with the Nippon Denso (ND) starters. If I remember correctly, Honda
sold these in a kit for about $15-18 and they can often be purchased from an
electric motor rebuilder for less but without the extra components of the
kit.

Elle, please feel free to use this advice on your site. If you're
interested, I can probably get some part numbers for the contact.

Eric

 

Eric, that the source of clicking noises in a non-startup situation may be
failed starter (solenoid?) contacts did occur to me when I wrote up this
site (writing as an amateur and certainly not someone of your experience).
But I thought a dead (or near dead) battery also caused clicking noises. So,
someone (Eric, anyone?) please feel free to describe the sounds a car makes
with a dead (or near dead, such that the car won't even turn over) battery.
It's been a while since I had a dead battery, and I've never had to replace
the starter contacts. On the other hand, I know plenty have posted here with
a problem which turned out to be the starter contacts.

That site is done for now, and for the original poster, I think the basic
checks described there are definitely worth performing to ascertain whether
the alternator/charging system is the problem.

Comments to improve this site's accuracy are welcome.

Eric, yes, I would like to have the part number info, though I may edit or
supplement it per what SLhonda and Majestic show in their online drawings at
their parts sites. I think it's very helpful to send readers to at least one
reliable part source. Plus for me, drawings help my understanding of any car
problem.

 

Clicking is a symptom of low voltage. Caused either by a weak battery
or high resistance due to corrosion in the solenoid. No way to tell
just by the sound.