battery dead or other problem?

88 Civic PGM-FI

1) I've been having to push start every time unless I've had it out on
the highway for 20 to 30 min in which case I seem to be able to get
about 6 starts out of it before it is dead again.
2) After 30 min on highway and using a cheap'o battery meter the
battery reads "full". After 3 starts it reads 3/4's.
3) About 3 months ago when car seemed to be running fine I left the
headlights on by accident and after just 20 min there was not enough
energy in the battery to start the car.

The connections are fine, starter motor seems to work as it is turning
the engine over sometimes, alternator likely is fine as I'm able to
push start car(I read in this group that push staring indicates that
the alternator is fine).

So is the battery dead or do I believe the cheap'o battery meter
telling me it's "full"?

Any other possible problems?

If I need to change the battery can I do it myself without worrying
about the FI or any computer equipment?

thanks for the help and an excellent newsgroup
Eric

 

Sounds like you have a dead battery. I have the same car, and I've changed
the battery with no complications. Just pop the old battery out and pop the
new one in. Make sure you get the terminals connected right (positive to
positive, neg. to neg.). You'll have to reset the time and station presets
on your radio, but that's about it. I'd also invest in some jumper cables
($5 at Wal-Mart). Good luck.

 

If you want to save yourself the hassle of reprogramming all your radio
stations, connect a 9V battery to the car battery cables before you
disconnect the cables (observing the correct polarity, of course: + to +, -
to -).

Bearman