Hello.

A member of this forum recently reported that his TSX alternator had failed. https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tsx-problems-fixes-128/dead-baby-electrical-850878/


I have several questions:

1) Have any forum members replaced their alternators because they failed?

2) If so, how old was the TSX and what mileage did it have when the alternator failed?

3) Do Acura TSX alternators last less than in previous Hondas and Acuras? The member who reported a broken alternator had around 100k in his car. I have have driven previous Hondas and Acuras where the car was driven for 13+ years and 150k before the alternator failed.

 

I'm driving a 94 Accord EX w/ 245K miles on original alternator. Unclear why TSX alternator should be different, but perhaps different supplier.

good luck

 

I believe it is Denso, just like the one was on my old Prelude. Should last a long time...

 

Mine lasted until about 100k miles. Swapped it for a Denso unit, which makes the Honda OEM one. the only difference was the cost....

 

Hoping it lasts a lot longer on my tsx.

 

I've owned 7 Honda/Acura since 1991 and I never had an alternater fail. I usually take my vehicles to 150,000-200,000 miles. I had a two starters, one radiator, one muffler, crap load of CV boots, and one transmission; but never an alternator.

 

I was talking to my mechanic about it, and with alternators, its a completely random thing. Not really a wear item with a calculable interval.

This is my first Honda/Acura of 5 since 1990 that I've had to replace the alternator on. My other cars lasted to 150K+ with no problems. My integra lasted until 210 without swapping alternators.

You can go with Denso units if you do need to replace it. Its the exact same thing.

 

I believe I replied to your msg on my thread.
But to answer number 3, I believe that cars before had minimal electrical inputs than cars present day. Therefore the longevity of cars nowadays break down at an early mileage.
I had a navi on my car along with some LEDs attached to the car, plus more. That might be the issue why mine broke down early

 

Have a 04 TSX...Alternator died at 136,000 miles...

 

mine died last week 270kmiles cant complain will never need another one the car will die before it goes again

 

Damn, then I had bad luck. Mine died at 70k miles, about 3 months after I bought the car. $300 to replace it (new Denso + install).

 

Yeah sounds like you had a faulty unit. I replaced myself...saved money but took sometime...

 

Wow. How do you have so much mileage on your car? Have you done several cross country trips?

Are you the original owner or did you buy your car used?

 

Mine went out tonight; Original owner 2004 TSX, 295K and counting to 300...........

 

You can save a lot of bucks w/ a used alternator. Check ebay. I've had great luck w/ used parts over the years.

good luck

 

RockAuto has the OE Denso (shipped to CT) for $223. If you're going to go through the hassle of replacing it, using new parts seems like a no brainer to me. Better for resale too.

 

mine died in my 06 right around 100k. bought an oe reman from my work( i work at a honda dealer) and changed it myself in a few hours. it was a denso i beleive. but getting those lower bolts out was a pain in the ass.

 

Sounds like no fun, but well worth doing (I assume) for those of us with the mechanical ability (and for me, thank God, every tool known to man)(it seems). My 05 was at 178K miles and will be 8 years old in April (I sold it) and never had a problem. From what I've read over the years here, this seems to be a completely random thing (and as is often the case with electical parts, it works fine today, not so much tomorrow). Hey, nothing lasts forever.

 

yeah lots of electrical parts just fail for sometimes completley random reasons other than shorts, resistance, or being friend from to much current. but yes your right nothing last forever.

 

Why would LEDs cause an alternator to die? LED bulbs consume less energy than the stock bulbs. I just lowered my electrical consumption by about 35w by replacing the outside running lights on my car. This should help my cause if I ever choose to add an alternator kill switch.

 

Mine died in the middle of the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge during rush hour in the middle of a rainstorm.

The series of events occurred something like this...

1. A battery warning symbol came up on the HUD.
2. The passenger seatbelt warning turned on
3. The airbag symbol came up on the HUD
4. The Navigation turned off
5. The radio turned off
6. The engine shut down...basically coasted to a complete stop until CalTrans pushed me to a lot.

I took it to a shop in SF which basically charged me $500 including the tow.

 

Hello. Welcome to the forum. Several questions:

1) How many miles does your car have?

2) Are you the original owner or did you buy used?

3) What year is your car?

4) Do you do mostly city driving, mostly highway driving? or combination?

 

My alternator on my 2006 (auto) just died at 89k miles. This is the first alternator I've had to get replaced on any of my Honda's *ever*, and between my wife and I we've owned 4 over the past 23 years (total miles including my 'low mileage' tsx is about 558k) . I would have replaced it myself, but I have absolutely no time to deal with it right now, so I'm out the $320. Not to mention it's about 98 degrees today with high humidity, so I'm not regretting it that much.

 

My '06 TSX is at 116k miles (manual) and I think it's dying. I just got the battery replaced from autozone yesterday and it was struggling to crank up when I was trying to leave school. I'm glad I had warranty coverage. The "check charging system" and battery light came on. After that, I saw the rest of these lights come on: VSA, ABS, brake, and airbag.

I think the problem is random. It was running great until this past weekend.

I'm debating whether to get a used alternator from a junk yard for $50 or from autozone for $120 because I'm on a budget. I see that almost all the responses says everyone has used and replaced it with another Denso, the original manufacturer of Honda.

 

That's what happened to mine: "check charging system" then battery light, followed by VSA, ABS, brake, and airbag (the warnings will keep cycling in that order). Also the NAV unit reset/rebooted at times also.

I agree, these alt failures are just random from what I have seen, sorry to say, and we both drew the short straw on that one.

Not sure if I would recommend a junk yard alt for the $50, but if you have the ability and time and can deal with a $50 loss if the part fails (another $50 or $120 + time), then give it a shot.

Good luck.

 

This is probably not something to cheap out on; spend the money and buy new.

 

Yeah! I decided to go to Autozone and purchase the alternator. It's working great now!

I wrote up what I did and used pictures. I hope this can help others with this issue.
Alternator replacement

 

Why not just consider changing your Altenators "Brush Holder" or brush pack at around 100K miles as a preventative measure. Thats my plan, just Youtube it for instructions.

 

My 2004 with in service date of April 2003 and at 200650 miles just showed the charging system warning lamp today. I stopped by Advance Auto and the alternator is only putting out 11.4v. My less than one year old Optima yellow top is okay at 12.4v, but the car is resting in the garage on a battery tender. I ordered an OEM Denso unit off Amazon for $141 shipped. The YouTube video showing the swap doesn't look too hard.

 

There's a recent thread on alternator installation that is helpful. Search should find it.

good luck

 

Old alternator removed, just waiting for the new one to show up....

 

New unit installed. Everything powered up again

 

My alternator on my 07 died yesterday. It has 134,000 miles on it and I didn't expect it to go so soon. It's at the shop right now for a reman replacement and labor for $300.

Word of advise, when the Battery Icon and Check Charging System light come on, park your car. You have about 10 minutes until your car completely shuts off. I was driving on a freeway when the lights came on. I wanted to ignore them and limp my car home. A few minutes later, all my car instruments were flickering and I barely got off the freeway in time before the car became inoperable.

 

04 auto replaced alternator at 223k.

 

07 Auto Navi, replaced alternator at 150k.

 

Just got mine replaced on my 04 tsx at 245,000km and yeah, it's scary to see the instrument panel have all its lights come on and then shortly after all the lights go out and the speedometer and tach drop to zero. but I'm still driving. I made it home because i was 2 blocks away. Drove it into a spot and then found my car wouldn't reverse.. yah. scary thing...

 

My alternator on my 06 TSX alternator just went out at 126,000 miles last week. It was about $300 to replace ($200 alternator, $100 labor at Firestone).

The TSX died on the road as my son was driving home from high school. Tried to jump the TSX and the battery was 100% depleted. Left the jumper cables to charge the battery at little bit and smoke started coming out of the alternator. I had to remove the battery to take it home to put on battery charger. I was able to start the car after a full charge to drive to Firestone.

The alternator in my 08 RDX went out 6 months earlier at around 115,000 miles. That gave me more warning lights and time to change compared to dead on the side of the road like the TSX.

 

Mine only lasted 11 years and 168,000 miles. It was a Denso. Replaced it with a Denso. Not too bad considering I live on "a rock" - not too much time on freeways.

 

I'm at 177k and I still have the original DENSO alternator on my 04. We'll see how long it lasts.
All my other engine accessories are original as well. Although I think my brake master is starting to go.

 

Wow...I guess I win for lowest miles. My 2006 TSX with Nav died at 56,000 miles last fall.

About 50,000 of those miles are in the city. I think the heat of sitting in the 100+degree sun with the ac and stuff running did it in. That and the times it would be 0 degrees out. We have 4 seasons here, but they also tend to be extreme.

I found the job to be rather easy once I pulled the fan and overfill tank off. I ordered a NEW unit from Autozone for $145 and had it shipped to me. Autozone was nice enough to loan me the belt/pully tool.

While they had rebuilts in the store with a lifetime replacement, I went for the new unit for $50 more and the lifetime replacement. I hope not to replace it ever again.

I managed to run my broken alt for 2 days while I waited for the new one to come. I just charged the battery all night and make sure to limit my drive to only what I needed to do. Closest thing I'll get to a Tesla. The check battery light came on one day...so I did check it. The one year old battery was 12.8v with the car off. Turned the car on and it was 12.3v. Fairly good sign the alt was toast. I just hope I didn't ruin my new battery.