KyleKidd
Honda Noob
ugh, new problem with my car. Ok, first off i washed my engine bay to take pictures because im trying to sell it and people want pics of the engine bay. I was careful not to get water near the dizzy, and wires. I let it dry over night and in the morning the car wouldent start. I Jumped it with my Suv and it started up. Now im getting a battery light. No error codes, just a red batter lit up. The weird thing is that it only lights up when accelorating. when i idle it doesnt light. Also note that my engine seems to be proforming better, my radio sounds clearer, and my rpms dont drop when useing any power options (they used to). So i went to the bank, and on my way home the car filled with a nasty smell that i cant put my finger on. Smelled like something burning? happened right when i got home so i poped the hood and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Belts looked fine. Checked the belt going to the alternator, was really tight so i loosened it just a little. Let the car sit. Few hours later i was takeing my girl home. She lives about 20 miles away. It was night so i needed my lights. This time the bat light stayed on no matter what i did. Right when i was near her house, the radio shut off, my guage cluster started going dark, and my led clock just dimmed so bad i could barly see them. Head lgihts too. So i shut off everything i could (headlights too =( ) and it seemed to not be getting any worse. I pulled up to her house and let it idle with nothing on, (hopeing it would recharge somehow) Then randomly after 5 min of sitting my CEL came on. I quickly checked it to get error code 43. Something to do with the fuel delivery. So im like wtf. Im thinking its the alternator thats bad since notihng seems to be keeping power. Well the car wouldent restart and i had to have my car towed home on a flatbed. (was lucky because my GF has free towing from AAA) So its in my garage and i ordered a new alternator. Also about a month ago i went to Autozone and had my battery and alt checked and the guy said my bat was excelent and my alternator was at about 60% health. So maybe the alt just happened to fail tonight. So my question really is: would a bad alternator cause my problems? Also about the CEL light, im thinking that there is just a lack of power going to the fuel system which made it throw the error, whats your input on that theory? And the burning smell i have no idea. dident come back on the ride to her house, maybe the belt was just a little too tight. All in all, i ordered a new alternator and am waiting for it to get here. The motor wash obviously screwed with something, weather it killed my dieing alternator or something else. Is there anything i might be overlooking?
