Engine not wanting to crank?

[bobby2002S2K]

Well let see, my car runs fine unless i run it really hard and get it heated up.After its been heated up if i stop and cut the car off when i jump back in about 10 mins later it doesn't want to turn over? Its like the batt. has very little charge. Seems like that batt, but it doesnt do it all the time. I'm carring it by advance auto parts to have the batt tested today but i'm not really goin to be suprised if the batt is ok. If anyone has another step in touble shooting this let me know, thanks.

[jagg]

little more info bob.
you run it hard, shut it down, then it doesn't turn over at all, or turns too slow to get it fired, or cranks but doesn't fire?
from your statement, the battery or it's connections seem to be the culprit.
BUT, the running it hard thing should not make a difference.
if you're not getting a voltage warning lamp on the dash, i'd be looking close at the battery and it's connections to the starter, alternator, and especially the ground.

[Vezna31]

It doesn't sound like the alternator. A bad one wouldn't charge the battery and the car would be running solely on battery power. That will eventually drain the battery completely and the car won't start. If the car sits for a while and then starts later, it would have to be something else since a battery can't charge on its own. That happened in my Hyundai eons ago.

[gomarlins3]

My guess would be the battery, so tell us after you get it checked.

[bobby2002S2K]

Well had it tested cant really tell if its the alternator or the battery. Alternator charges right at idle (15 amps) but when it has a load it goes down to 9 amps. Which from my understanding it should be at around 12 to 13 while under load. So that kinda explains alittle when i was running it hard it was night(lights on and radio plus radar dect.) So i almost killed my battery when i stopped and cut it off i didnt give it time to idle at 15 amps. On the other hand i tested the battery and it said charge and retest. So if the battery is going bad Maybe its not letting it charge up like it should be? I always thought that if the alternator was going bad it just stopped charging not charging less? I'm i right or wrong on that? If i'm right then its my Battery.

[philiam]

If a battery is low for a long period, it'll develop a coating "sulfating" on the plates and won't take a full charge. It needs to be de-sulfated.

A marginal starter motor will also break down under load when hot.

[gomarlins3]

Well if you want to be sure, change both. If you want to guess and take the cheaper route, just change the battery and see if that solves the problem.

[bobby2002S2K]

Yea i'm goin to guess and say its the battery. New honda battery $40.00 not to big of a deal.

[jagg]

sounds like you're headed in the right direction bobby.

[jagg]

hey bobby,
we haven't heard from you on this.
did you get that puppy squared away?

[Dr. Jimbo]

Bobby, $40 for a new batt? Go for it. I just paid $69 at Kragen. Damn! Honda wanted over $100. Mine was on the way out and I knew it. The last straw was in line at the bank drive thru when I shut the engine off to get my checkbook out of the trunk, got back in and nothing. Dead. I had to push start it. I had a lot of errands to do and didn't want to leave the car running while I was in different buildings (for obvious reasons) so I stopped by Kragen and popped in a new one in the parking lot. Probably could have picked up a new one at Costco for $50.