My 2001 civic (5 spd, 155k miles, carfax says timing belt was changed at 97k before I bought it...) decided to kick the bucket at 80 mph outside Lexington yesterday.

This past week it had started making this sort of whirring noise for a minute or two when I was at highway speed and then stopping. Like most car noises its hard to describe. At first I thought it was a wheel problem because it sounded like something spinning really fast with bearings making noise, but the second time I realized it didn't slow down or speed up with the speed of the car and it wasn't nearly as loud as I remember it being when my wheel bearings went all to shit.

So, anyway, this noise started up for a little bit and stopped again just a few minutes before it died on me. Right after I pulled off the road, the car would turn over strong but refused to start. Then, about 45 minutes later at the mechanic, I stuck the key in it to try and lock it with the automatic locks, and realized everything was dead. No dashboard lights, no power lock, no nothing.

Anybody got any thoughts on what could be wrong here?

-Other problems that have existed on the car for a while (in case somebody sees a correlation):
1) when its cold out, 50-60 degrees or lower, when I start it it sounds like the starter gets stuck (it makes that grinding sound you get when you try to start the car when its already started :beatup). This has been around for at least 2 years.
2) Sometimes, nearly everything on the dashboard will completely black out and be non-functional for the first 10-15 minutes of running. The lights, the tach, the speedo, even the damn illumination on the A/C controls. The only light that comes on when its doing this is the brake light. The AC/heat/blower still works though. It did this for a little while about 2 years ago, but just recently started doing it every time I went to drive it.
3) For the past 2+ years, I've seen that the headlights will dim noticeably from turning on the AC, or letting the RPMs drop too low. I had always assumed this was just the nature of cheap honda's, but now I'm wondering if I don't have some crazy ass electrical gremlins.
4) Sometimes the idle will drop lower than I would expect (which usually leads to the headlight dimming). Usually I think it sits around 750 but at times it has dipped down like its hesitating or something. I haven't noticed this happening specifically the last few weeks though....just seems to happen randomly from time to time.

12/18/2011 3:25:49 PM

You have to turn the key on to operate the locks?

12/18/2011 3:44:37 PM

Haha, no, I sort of mistyped that. I tried to lock it and then realized the locks weren't working, so I was like WTF and stuck the key in to see if anything was working...and it wasn't.

12/18/2011 3:46:41 PM

So the battery is dead.

12/18/2011 3:58:19 PM

It acted as if the battery was dead. But I can't say for certain since I didn't have time to actually test it and I wouldn't really expect a battery to go from cranking like a champ to stone dead in 45 minutes.

12/18/2011 4:05:11 PM

So, it seems the immediate cause was a lack of octane in the fuel tank . The electrical gremlins in the console have made the gas gauge only pretend to work, so instead of half a tank I had zilch.

Mechanic said he fiddled with it for a while and then tried to put gas in it and it started right up. And he didn't have any problems with the power/battery which worries me a lot...shit's probably gonna randomly zonk out on me.

They wanted me to put a new computer in it but I'm just having him fix the starter sticking problem since he figured that out. Hopefully I can get it back to Charlotte and take it to a Honda specialist to get a more thorough assessment.

12/19/2011 2:03:02 PM

So you have been having electrical problems and you havent checked your battery yet? Have you tested the alternator? Have you tested the starter? Did they tell you why the wanted to put a new computer in it? Autozone will test your battery, starter and alternator for free. If you dont know how to take them out you should prob just take it to a shop and bend over. They will let you spend a bunch of money chasing electrical problems around.

charge battery and take it to parts store and get it tested. (How old is the battery, have you ran it all the way dead several times?)
with good battery, test voltage across battery to see if alternator is providing ~14.4 V (if not, replace alternator)

as far as starting when cold, the starter solenoid may be getting stuck. Starter solenoid is a cheap part and if you have the know how can be replaced fairly easily. If you can get the starter out yourself, take it into the parts store and get it tested as this could also be the problem.

12/19/2011 2:58:27 PM

The battery is(was) perfectly fine, like I said the thing was turning over like a champ after it died and it just randomly had the power problems shortly after I got it towed. The mechanic said he didn't have any problems with it.

Quote :

"Did they tell you why the wanted to put a new computer in it?"

They seemed to want to do this based purely on the fact that the gas guage was giving false readings and the cluster was acting up. They didn't sound very confident; they also suggested the fuel sending unit could be a problem. Their analysis did not thrill me. That's why I'd rather take it to somebody with more honda specific experience before I go getting dinged $500 at a time to replace every little thing.

Hell, honestly if I can drive the thing back home from Lexington tomorrow and the only problem is a gas gauge lying to me then I might just keep driving it that way.

12/19/2011 3:29:00 PM

why did you ask all of these questions if you dont even care to fix them? I gave you a list of things that you can easily check to save yourself money and hassle from a mechanic.

My battery was "turning over like a champ" until i left a door open and didnt drive it for a week and ran the battery down. After that it wouldnt hold a charge. That is why I told you to get the battery tested. It is free and simple, start there. Testing the alternator is as simple as touching some multimeter leads and at worst, taking it out and running it to the parts store to have it bench tested. All of this will save you money if you do have to take it into the shop.

I dont understand how you think the problems will just go away if you can drive it. Do you enjoy getting stranded and having to pay for a tow and dealing with all of the hassle. Dont be lazy and fuck your car up

12/20/2011 8:00:40 AM

Dude WTF are you even talking about. Read the first post, geez.

Quote :

"Other problems that have existed on the car for a while (in case somebody sees a correlation):"

That was a list of problems that have been around in some form or another for literally 2 years. I listed them in case someone who knows what they're talking about saw a correlation where maybe something had gone bad over time.

I'm no car expert, but I'm almost certain a bad alternator will not cause the car to die on the highway AND then have the engine turn over just fine 10 seconds later. The mechanic agreed with this assessment as well and didn't waste time screwing around with the battery and alternator.

12/20/2011 9:49:47 AM

Quote :

"in case somebody sees a correlation"

almost everything you described is electrical. Electrical all relies on the battery and the alternator. They are very simple to check. Have you checked to see if everything is grounded well? a loose ground cable can cause the problems you are desribing

Quote :

"I'm no car expert"

obviously

Quote :

"stuck the key in it to try and lock it with the automatic locks, and realized everything was dead. No dashboard lights, no power lock, no nothing."

yea, that doesnt sound like the battery at all

Quote :

"gas guage was giving false readings and the cluster was acting up"

this is a well know issue with this model and is covered under a TSB. Its not the computer. The "soultion" is to replace the cluster


im just trying to help. you are an ungrateful shithead

12/20/2011 12:31:34 PM

Thank you for the input.

12/20/2011 12:33:27 PM

ITT specialkay gets offended easily.

12/20/2011 2:21:09 PM

yup, why come ask for help and then dont even give a shit what was said?

he is too busy to get the battery tested, but he wants TWW to diagnose his car problems based on some shitty descriptions of problems he has had for 2 years. How the fuck can you be too busy to get your battery tested?

and the stupid fuck couldnt even tell that his car was out of gas. I went and checked his profile because i figured he was a chick. fucking dumbass

12/20/2011 3:25:51 PM

So, anyway, went to Lexington to get the car yesterday and it didn't make the weird sound at all on the way back. I'll have to see if it comes back. Maybe the starter they replaced was causing it?

The gas gauge definitely refuses to register the proper fuel level now, even once the cluster decides to start working.

Does anyone know of any problems that could come up from not fixing the cluster? The last time I talked to the stealership about it they didn't seem to think it would hurt anything. My only concern right now is that its gonna be a real pain to have a broken gas gauge and no way to track how far I've driven (mileage read-out doesn't work either). I might look into replacing it myself as long as it doesn't require taking the airbag out.

12/21/2011 7:45:35 AM

http://www.triangleasianimports.com/

12/21/2011 8:12:53 AM

Real funny. I'm not even living in Raleigh. And despite specialkay's very special opinion, I actually have the ability to fix a thing or two when I have time to work on it.

12/21/2011 8:24:15 AM

lol @ specialkay

12/21/2011 10:11:28 AM

We make time for the things that really matter. I'm with specialkay

12/21/2011 11:37:15 AM

this is the beauty of civics. they're disposable.

when yours breaks, just throw it out and get a new one.

12/21/2011 12:12:30 PM