1992 Honda Civic Battery Goes Down As I Drive the Car

Reader Question I bought a 1992 Honda Civic Si with 188K. Drove 40km everything fine then gauges went dead, engine started to bog in any gear (manual) then engine died. I was told to keep the battery disconnected because something is eating the battery power.
If you wait 10min and reconnect, engine starts up again no problem, after 10 min dies again. What is this, alternator? Distributor? Or bad battery? What should I try first?

Thanks so much for your time!

Ant

Howdy Ant,

If the battery is dead/flat when the engine dies and you have to either jump start or recharge the battery to get the engine running again…….I would suspect you either have a bad battery or a bad alternator.

The first thing I would do is run a complete electrical test on the vehicle which should include

1. Load test the battery – how strong is the battery

2. Check the alternator output – how much power is the alternator putting out

3. Check for a drain…is something electrical actually draining the battery of power

4. Check the battery cables and connections – are the tight and clean

5. Check the alternator belt – is the belt loose or slipping

Blessings,

Austin Davis