Just today when I started the RL, I got a "check charging system" on the MID. I can also hear a very noticeable whine, which increases as I accelerate. While driving, the "check charging system" message (and accompanying idiot light) would display for about 1-3 seconds, then disappear. The alternator was recently replaced, as it had died about 5 months ago. The car still starts and drives just fine, except for the whining. There is no loss of power, no hesitation, everything "feels" normal. The timing belt service was done about 2 years ago, and the car is not driven much, maybe about 5000 miles per year. The battery is about 2 years old.

I plan to hook up my OBDII scanner tonight and see if any codes got thrown.

 

I checked with an OBDII scanner and there are no codes stored.

 

Check terminals, battery cables or maybe new battery? Did you use an oem alternator?

 

Battery is 2 years old and the engine cranks just fine and starts quickly. Alternator was replaced at dealer. They are looking at it on Wed, as the repair job has a 1 year warranty.

 

I would get a new battery, as RL is very sensitive to even slightly bad battery.

 

I've read about the battery causing all sorts of issues, but how about the whine?

 

Are you sure it's not propeller shaft whine?

 

Has the belt tensioner been replaced? Often overlooked & could more than likely be the culprit.

 

^I actually had that very problem. Found out my tensioner was killing my alternator.

 

I'll mention that to them when they look at it on Wed. I had the timing belt service done about 2 years ago, but it only been maybe 10k miles since as I don't drive this car very much.

 

Same, I don’t drive mine much either. And I always have it on a trickle charger when I do. It ate two alternators fairly quickly.

 

Has nothing to do with your timing belt service. The serpentine belt tensioner is separate from the timing belt tensioner.

 

You mean drive belt right?

How does one test if that tensioner on it is good or not?

 

Well, go to any place and put the tester on the battery and test the alternator. It's advisable to do so before going to stealership.

What you describe is textbook alternator. Whine and charging system light and no codes.

 

Yea the drive belt.

As for how to test it, that's a good question lol. I just replaced it along with the alternator when I first got the car & had a charging system issue. No issues for the past 5 years 100k KM (60k miles) till I to replace my alternator again a few weeks back.

Checked out alldatadiy on how to test the tensioner & this is what I found..

 

@teh CL Can't get more precise than this! Thanks!

 

The alternator was replaced by the dealer last September and has a warranty. My original alternator fried itself as I could smell electrical burning. After I pulled over, the battery was totally dead and absolutely no power.

 

With mine car was running fine. No lights on dash even. Just the whine. No smell. Was the alternator.

But Fyi the battery as of 2 years starts faulting up. My guess is there's so many eletrocnics that may short or something, like the door handles, or the HFL, they drain the power often. But it's just a guess.

Which keeps the battery and alt working overtime.

 

That's exactly how it went with my original alternator. Car would be driving perfectly fine and then 2 miles from home, I could smell burning, and was getting a strange surging, and it was kind of limping home. I just made it into the driveway when everything died. Had to get towed for repair. The original alternator lasted since 2006 when car was new.

 

Did they check it out today?

 

Yes, and got the car back. Turns out the alternator (replaced in September 2019) was bad. They had another in stock so replaced it and all is well. No charge, as the repair work has a 3 year warranty.

 

A Denso OEM going bad in 5 months... Did you ask them about the tensioner discussed above?

Glad it's repaired and running new again

 

No, I didn't. They seemed really confident that the cause of the problem was the alternator itself. The tech said that he could clearly hear the whine coming from the alternator itself. Yeah, I was surprised an alternator could go back that quickly, but I suppose statistically a defective unit can exist. At least it died within the warranty period.

 

Got this message today. Going to check the battery but it was recently replaced. Alternator was replaced at 119k or about 3 or so years ago. I guess it is time to replace it again. I am at 169k now.

 

Are these electrical issues mostly with the 05 and 06?

 

No, as I have a 2008. I replaced my alternator three years ago w/ an aftermarket one, so that could be the issue. Going to replace it w/ a Denso this time around.

 

Acura's and Lexus's in my experience don't like remans unless they are DENSO.

 

Aftermarket parts generally have half the life of OEM parts. I've had Denso aftermarket spark plug wires that lasted 50K miles before it had issues with arcing. I've never tried Denso aftermarket alternators, but I replaced the brushes in a Denso OEM alternator at 180K miles and it had no issues when I sold the car at 280K miles.

 

Replaced the alternator today with a remanufactured Denso one and it seems to fix the issue. I spun the old alternator and the bearing has a slight grinding noise. The hardest part about the job was snaking the old alternator out and new one in as I did not remove the radiator.