1985 Honda Accord loses power


I have a friend who has a 1985 Honda Accord, she drives the car for 10 minutes or so and then the electrical system shuts down, i.e lights dim, battery light comes on, car shuts off. alternator was recently changed, fuel pump recently changed, and thats about all the info i have right now. by recently i mean within the last year. any help would be appreciated. thanks Patrick


My usual response to this kind of problem. Have the battery and charging system checked. Many auto parts stores will do it for free. Also remove and clean and tightly reattach both ends of each battery cable.

There are lots of other possibilities, but those are cheap and easy.

Question:  How long and how often does it exhibit the problem?

Hello! With a Honda of this age (it would be helpful to know the mileage and condition) I would start from front to back with the electrical system. Start with the battery . . . then check the battery cables and connections, the ground point, the primary fuse, then move on to the coil, then the distributor cap, rotor, plug wires, spark plugs . . . and then check the connections to both the fuel pump and the alternator. I know you said they were both recently changed . . . that doesn’t mean that whoever did the change that they cleaned all of the connections. Once you have eliminated all of this stuff, you can go to the strange and unusual . . . but following the Hakim’s Razor principle, the simple and most obvious solution is usually the best one to try initially (roughly translated) . . . so go with the simple and obvious first. You are kind of fortunate that the Accord is an '85, as the electrical system is still kind of simple. Don’t get me started on the vacuum hoses or the carb . . . but the electrical system is basic. Good luck, post back. Rocketman