Car Mechanics: Lets Play "Guess the Problem!" *UPDATED* 8/16

[nord1899]

Alright, I had serious car troubles this morning which required towing the car to the dealer. When I called late afternoon, they hadn't looked at it yet. So I was wondering if some ATOT car mechanics could guess what the problem is.

Background:
Car is a 1997 Acura CL 3.0. I bought it in May 2000 at 56k miles, it now has just under 90k. I haven't been perfect with the maintainence, but I've been pretty damn good. July 8th, I got the 90k mile scheduled maint done and the timing belt along with the water pump. Cost me a fortune to do all this. This past weekend, I got a notice concerning a safety recall notice over the ignition switch being defective and failing. The dealer didn't think it was too important as they scheduled me for the 26th (called on the 12th).

Symptoms:
On Monday, I noticed something wrong. If I had the AC on, the stock stereo would turn off, the tach and engine temp would drop to zero as if the engine was off and the ABS light would stay on.
Today, it had the same behavior and got worse in about 5 minutes. This time the engine temp was staying steady, but the tach and speedo both were fluctating from telling the real thing to dropping to zero as if the engine was off. The ABS and SRS (air bag) lights came on and stayed on. I didn't even have the AC running and I turned the stereo off myself intentionally. I knew something serious was wrong so I called the dealer on a cellphone and told them I'm bringing it in.
Well, on a high speed road, the car was doing okay except that the gauges were worthless. But when I got to a road with stop lights, and was forced to stop, the engine was idling pretty rough. Then it cut out, stopped. Attempts to re-start it just resulted in clicking noises. No lights would work, even the hazard lights.
Thats about it.

Question:
So what do you think is wrong with the car? I'm just curious so I might be prepared with any BS the dealer might give me tomorrow.

Thanks.

 

[Fritzo]

Uhhhh....have you tried putting air in the tires?

 

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Uhhhh....have you tried putting air in the tires?

How I wish it was that. I have an emergency road kit that has an air compressor.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Possibly, but not necessarily, the charging system died.

 

[Heisenberg]

Definitely electrical. Probably a bad alternator or something else in the electrical system - voltage regulator maybe.

 

[Murphyrulez]

I would have to vote for the computer module got fried or some such thing. So many different things, all controlled by that little computer.

 

[notfred]

msot likely the alternator died.

 

[nord1899]

Based on an old chevy mini-van I had which had the alternator go out, thats what I was thinking.

But more opinions are nice.

 

[T2T III]

Do you still have a warranty on the car? If it's the alternator, you'll probably have to pay $400 - $500 to get the issue resolved.

 

[Nocturnal]

sounds like the altenator.

buy a refurb and do it yourself. cost you around 2-3 bills.

 

[CraigRT]

guage cluster has a bad connection?

doesn't seem like a huge problem to me..

since none of those symptoms reflects engine problems or anything, "tach at 0 while running" for example, leads me to believe it's just a little electrical glitch, made out to look like a large problem for you.. i wouldnt worry that much...

then again that's just me... i could be wrong.

 

[toant103]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
Uhhhh....have you tried putting air in the tires?

haha

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: Yield
guage cluster has a bad connection?

doesn't seem like a huge problem to me..

since none of those symptoms reflects engine problems or anything, "tach at 0 while running" for example, leads me to believe it's just a little electrical glitch, made out to look like a large problem for you.. i wouldnt worry that much...

then again that's just me... i could be wrong.

if you read the whole thread he says that his car died out. he tried restarting it. it did not restart. it made clicking noises. to me, that sounds like more then just a loose wire in the gauge cluster.

 

[nord1899]

Could the ignition switch recall affect this at all? Here is the info from the recall notice:

"Electrical contacts in the ignition switch can wear prematurely due to high electrical current passing through the switch. Worn out ignition contacts could cause the engine to stall without warning. Although the engine will restart in most cases, if you engine stalls while driving in traffic or at highway speeds, you are at risk of being involved in a crash. Difficulties starting the engine (for example, hard-to-start, stalls immediately after starting, etc.) may indicate the ignition switch is failing."

The car seemed to be a bit harder to start, but not overly so. At idle, it was definitely louder as of recent than I recall it being normally. A bit louder and higher pitched.

The alternator seems like a possible problem. My old chevy minivan had all the interior lights going dim when I got around to replacing it. But I had no problem with any of the lights prior to the car dieing.

Oh well, lets see how much more this car costs me this summer.

 

[Peetoeng]

I second, third, or nth the charging system problem.

After I got a new battery a year ago, my car sounded quieter. I suppose good/well-charged battery would give proper amount of current to the spark plugs. Bad battery (because it's old or bad charging system/alternator) might cause some symptoms your car has.

 

[speed01]

Ignition switch or computer......The charging system going bad wouldn't make the gauge cluster work sporadically......however, the computer going out could possibly prevent the charging system from working correctly......

 

[locutus4]

i leaning toward thinking its the computer, a bad alternator wouldn't cause all those gauges, AC, and Stereo to act up. If it is the alternator, you could do it yourself for about $80, or pay a professional $300-500. Alternator is the easiest thing on a car to replace, but i know alot of people who dont like to mess with their car at all so its up to you.

 

[nord1899]

Ok, I was already leaning towards a completely electrical problem, just wasn't sure where.

And the opinions here are:
- Alternator
- Battery
- Computer
- Charging system (is that separate of the alt or the same thing?)
- Ignition switch

I'm pretty much car dumb when it comes to maintaining these things. I know specs and all that, but actually working on them is not my thing. But then again, I get payed good money from people who are computer dumb, so what comes around goes around.

About how much would the computer fix run? Anyone got an idea?

EDIT: Added stuff.

 

[blahblah99]

Its definitely an electrical problem.. check for the obvious first.. is the alternator wires plugged in? Is the belt still on the alternator and not slipping?

Next, I would check if there's a direct short somewhere in your system by getting multimeter and probing the + and - terminals that connect to your battery to see if there's resistance. Anything less than 1 ohm would mean there's a short. (pull out the terminals from the battery when you do this)

Second, I would check your alternator by jumping your car and pulling out all batteries and jumper cables to see if the alternator can support the car (which it should). If it doesn't, then your alternator's dead.

And finally, put your key to the on position but don't turn on your car and try to isolate what is causing the short (if in fact it is a short). Have everything off and turn on one accesory at a time to see what's causing the short. Put the multimeter to your battery and have someone tell you when the voltage drops by a few volts as you turn on each accesory..


I hope this helps!

 

[nord1899]

Originally posted by: blahblah99
Its definitely an electrical problem.. check for the obvious first.. is the alternator wires plugged in? Is the belt still on the alternator and not slipping?

Next, I would check if there's a direct short somewhere in your system by getting multimeter and probing the + and - terminals that connect to your battery to see if there's resistance. Anything less than 1 ohm would mean there's a short. (pull out the terminals from the battery when you do this)

Second, I would check your alternator by jumping your car and pulling out all batteries and jumper cables to see if the alternator can support the car (which it should). If it doesn't, then your alternator's dead.

And finally, put your key to the on position but don't turn on your car and try to isolate what is causing the short (if in fact it is a short). Have everything off and turn on one accesory at a time to see what's causing the short. Put the multimeter to your battery and have someone tell you when the voltage drops by a few volts as you turn on each accesory..


I hope this helps!

Well the car is at the dealer right now, which is about 20 miles away (real close to work).

But I did try turning things on after the car died. Nothing at all. Not even something as simple as the hazard lights or open-door chime.

 

[XCLAN]

nord...this may sound wrong, but you could always let the dealer work on the car. then ask em why everything was jacked up after they worked on it , thats is of course if they dont know about probs with it allready. they will then look at it for free, {wich in my opinion doesnt cost them a dime except labor}. if you pay they gunna charge 300$ + maybe

 

[nord1899]

XCLAN I plan on doing that. The maintainence was done a little over a month ago and less than 1500 miles ago.

I will be complaining to get as much free stuff as possible from them once I get their side of the story. If any part of what they say was broken was supposed to be fixed at the 90k interval, I will be complaining to no end.

 

[slag]

I concur with most others here that the alternator died or is on its way out. Its also possible that you have a dead cell in your battery but most definitely the alternator is the culprit.
A dying or dead alternator will cause all of the symptoms you listed.. fluctuating gauges, no gauges, no stereo, poor driveability, clicking, etc.

 

[b1er]

It would seem correct that the alternator gave up. With the symptoms that you describe, the charging system has a problem. Car electrics work on around 12 volts. They are really designed to work with anywhere from 15 down to 6. The reason they do this is for just the problem you are having. If the Alt. dies, you need to be able to get to a service center or at least off the roadway.

Most ignition systems will work all the way down to about 7 to 8 volts input. Fuel systems are about the same. Starting is another story. It needs the voltage and amperage of a decent battery.

Thats why most reference voltage on your cars sensors is 5 volts. They will still somewhat function in a worst case scenario getting you home or to the dealer.


Good luck, Hope it isn't too expensive.

 

[desertdweller]

The problem you described is very indicative of what happens when ignition switched go bad, especially Honda/Acura
because they have so many things powered straight from the switch.

Although I wouldn't rule out a ground problem, it will most likely be the ignition switch. If it were your alternator, the battery
that was able to restart the car would have had enough juice to power the gauges. The battery on modern electrical
systems is an integral part of it; it isn't just used for the starter.

Honda's/Acura rarley have computer problems and most of the time, the computer doesn't control the guages anyway.
The guages see 12v while the computer sees 5v.




DD