My 97 Acura Integra has been great until recently.
While driving slow, my radio began to flicker on and off.
Didn?t happen when driving fast. Then it didn?t start one day.
Jumped the car and drove home fine. Tested the alternator by
running and removing the positive cable, and it stayed running.
Then it would start fine, but then not when you went to restart.
My husband was waiting for a jumpstart with the key in the on position, and it all of a sudden went from dead to all the dash lights coming on and the car starting fine, with no jump start.
Is this an alternator issue, or some other electrical issue?
Sounds to me like you have a bad electrical connection somewhere, rather than a bad alternator. Start checking connections (including ground) and continuity of wires and cables.
Please don’t remove the battery cable while the engine is running. It’s very bad for the electrical system, and can cause LOTS of problems.
Thanks. We had several people tell us to test the alternator that way. It would be nice if they would say it could cause issues.
I don’t know where to start on the electrical connections, are they mostly in the engine area?
I recommend you get a battery cleaning brush and clean the battery connections first. Also check for problems with the main power buss for the accessories. There should be a main panel under the hood.