1992 GSR having weird problems

[gsrer]

Hi Everyone,

I have 92 integra GSR. Just got out of the shop a few months ago with engine rebuild. I used to have this problem a few years ago where my car would not start, changed the starter, cont. intermittent problems of car not starting no crank or anything. Took it to a mechanic who fixed the problem saying that there was an exposed wire causing the short. Long story short have not experienced that problem again until a couple weeks ago.

My gf was driving, the car would not start, or crank. Told her to "tap" the starter, b/c I know sometimes it gets stuck. Nothing. I show up and push start the car, Now the weird part, the car is running but the gauges are dimming, the radio ant is possessed can't figure out if it wants to stay up or down. The attempt to drive it home is successful, however, two times it seems as the car wants to quit on me, Mostly when I step on the brake but not always. Dimming lights is the precursor, Abs gauge turns on and off, extreme loss of power (press on gas, nothing rpms cont to drop then raise on its own), emergency lights super dim but the car never stalled. What is the prob? Possible Alternator going bad? Any help would be appreciated. I have had this car for 16 years I am not getting rid of it.

[gsrer]

Anyone have any ideas?

[C25A1guy]

I hope you're not getting rid of such a rare car. Anyways, it sounds like a charging system issue. A nice remanufactured alt would probably solve the issue. But also considering this is a 16+ year old car, making yourself some fresh ground cables probably couldn't hurt much as well (pretty easy to if you know how to crimp, solder and heat shrink wires).

[Acura2g]

Sounds like the engine grounds are bad. I would replace them and have your alternator inspected. Places like Autozone run testing on alternators and can diagnose an electrical problem.

[m0nst3r]

It sounds like your alternator isn't getting enough charge. I would definitely test it, or as mentioned before, take it to a place like Autozone to get it tested.

[gsrer]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the info and help. Quick question: Would a bad alternator have an affect on a non-running car? When I turn the key to light up the dash, the dash lights are normal, when I try to lock doors, the lights dim. Sounds like weak battery because of bad alternator, though, when I say it like that. Can this be a generator problem. I cannot seem to figure this out. I will probably take to autozone and have the alternator checked out. I have had some bad experiences with this though. I took my car there a few years ago to have my battery looked at because of starting problems. They told me that I needed a new battery and and alternator. Took to my mechanic and he told me that there was a short in one of the wires. He replaced wire for free. Car worked fine with the same "bad" battery and "bad" alternator for about 3 more years. How do I know that they aren't going to try and scam me again?

[Acura2g]

Replace the battery if you want, but it still sounds like a bad ground to me. When you're putting a load on the battery it will dim a little thats natural anything that makes things dim a lot is a power cord or grounding issue. If the lights don't stay dim and come back then the battery is fine.

[C25A1guy]

Well, if you have a volt or multimeter handy, you can test this yourself. A good battery and charging system, when running should be putting out around 13-14 volts at idle and around 60-80 peak amps around 2k rpm. I would first check to make sure that your have proper voltage.

First check the batter with the car off. You should be getting 12v. If you have around 9v or lower, you have a bad cell in the battery and need to have it replaced. Then you will want to start running the car. You should be getting between 13-14v (up to 14.5v when cold). If you got 12v not running and 13-14v running, switch your multimeter to measure amperage. On the throttle cable, rev your car up to about 2K rpm and measure your amps. Like I said, you should be getting around 60 amps, give or take (this will be internally regulated by the alt). if the readout is still OK, disconnect the negative battery terminal while the car is still running and take another voltage and amp readout by touching the probes to the terminals directly. If the readout is still OK, you may have a dying battery on your hands. If the car cuts out and the engine dies after a few minutes with the battery terminal off, you got a bad alt on your hands.

[gsrer]

Thanks everyone,

Sorry about my inexperience, other than the starting issues that I have had a few years ago and the engine rebuild this car has never given me a problem. The battery is only a few months old. I replaced the battery in the engine rebuild. What is a grounding wire and what does it look like, what should it look like? I personally do not have a voltmeter but I can get one from my dad so I will try my best to not electrocute myself! Any way if I can't figure this out, can anyone recommend a mechanic in LA,CA? I live in the downtown region near USC. Preferably cheap, I am not a rich man as my 16 year old car will attest to, but i love this car and want to keep it as mint as I can.

[C25A1guy]

Not in Downtown. In Alhambra, yeah. New Century Auto on Valley Blvd @ Fremont. Talk to Harry. Tell em Dean sent ya.

[Acura2g]

A ground wire, just like anywire, is important to the engine and car to function right. The car has many of these hidden and tucked behind panels. Specifically an Engine ground is what makes the engine possible to perform at equilibrium, in a way. For a car to produce a spark you have to have a possitive being often a charge from a battery and a negative being. A grounding point for new cars. Your engine has to be ground or simply wont run. The spark will fire out of the ignition coil and skater because it looks for a ground and when your engine isn't grounded it doesn't find the right path.

In your case, you have a partial ground it sounds to me. Enough to carry through basic functions, but when a high electrical load is being placed on the wiring the wiring is giving out and at no surprise. These cars are older now, they used early technology that didn't utilize thicker gauge wiring, heat resistant coatings, and better conductive metals.

A couple of years ago, well more than a couple, I did a timing belt replacement on my 1992 Integra GS. After I pieced it all back together I went to start it up and it was missing something awful. Lights would dim when trying to perform what seemed to be basic functions. It turns out that the wiring was bad under the hood. My grounds and power leds all had to be replaced. After I did that, car started right up without a miss and didn't dim ever again. I replaced all my wiring with thicker gauging and breaded lines.