My Honda has been very good to me but recently after my last oil change my mechanic told me that my alternator looked like it was going out. He said that it wasn’t turning over very fast. Then a week later my car starts having a hard time shifting for a second, just a second. When I’m sitting at a light it makes the same sound and movement, like it’s running out of gas or it’s about to turn off, like it’s downshifting but IT’S NOT MOVING…so my question is can I still drive it from Austin to Dallas without worrying that it’s going to breakdown on me? What does this sound like to you?
I am wondering if the problem noticed with your alternator is that it is intermittantly dragging i.e. one of the bearings is seizing or the rotor is contacting the stator. Usually this would be accompanied by noise that a skilled mechanic would diagnosis as failing ball or needle bearing. The intermittant seizure would slow down the engine at idle so you might notice it. If a bearing is failing, you probably should not drive the Civic long distance. Eventually the bearing will lock up; stop the alternator pully; overheat the belt causing it to break; and stopping all other accessories driven by that belt. Then, you would be stuck and need a tow.
Hope that helps.