So ive been noticing that my ac on high is reving up and down and sometimes the nav and radio will cut off for about 5 sec and turn back on....today the charging system light and a whole bunch of other check lights came on....should i be buying a battery or alternator?

 

Check your battery cables first. They should be tight on the terminals to where they can't move. I don't know where the other ends are, but if those are loose, the you would get the same result.

To check your alternator, shack the voltage with the car running. I believe 13.6 is a good reading, but anything over 13 should be fine.

How old is the battery. 2-3 years of life is not uncommon in the RL.

 

aaagh. I just got this message, along with an unhappy bearing noise, and it's the alternator. 110k miles. $415 to replace. Crap!

 

a bad battery can kill and alternator, but a bad bearing is just bad luck.

 

I have a battery condition monitor permanently plugged into the cigarette lighter, it costs around $10 but it a great idea to daily watch what is going on with the battery. I had to do this because Acura saved $3 by not giving us a voltmeter in the car like most flagship models.

 

The majority of the public wouldn't pay attention to a meter anyway... they only replace batteries and tires when they leave them stranded.

 

But RL owners are not the majority and the battery condition in RL's is not Acura's long suit.

 

fixed

 

I know the battery is an important component in such an electric vehicle. That's why I'd like to get the Battery Mole and use it in the accessory connector on the center console. Is there an easy way to change this connector spot to ALWAYS be powered? I'd like the Battery mole to be able to monitor the start sequence.

 

^Take out the fuse for the center console and add a jumper from the back end of an always-on fuse to the back end of the center console slot.

Some people just buy a new car when the battery dies or the tires wear out. Somethings are just too much hassle to have to worry about happening again later on down the road when money (or credit) isn't a problem.

 

As a best practice I put my car on a charger that checks the battery at least once a week and I keep my vehicles on battery tenders when they sit longer than a week.

 

OK guys, just got off work and on my way to pick up my daughter. The radio dies aand screen goes blank. I press the power button a couple times and it powers on again. As I'm sitting here, my check charging system light comes on followed by check SH AWD System. Then navi display goes black and then Check Power steering display happens. I try to drive off and the guages don't work. I shouldn't have but then I shut off the car and now it won't start. The batteryis less than a year old, god I hope it's not the alternator. Right now, I'm waiting for my son to come jump me but I think that won't work.

 

i always wonder why when a car dies while running people try to jump them. Good luck with the new alternator.

the reason it was acting weird and the check light came on is because the car was running off the battery.

 

I was "HOPING" that I could get enough juice in the battery to make the 5 mile drive home, result = FAIL. But I ended up taking my wife's battery out of her MDX and Voila = SEMI-FAIL = Terminals on wrong side. I was able to stretch the cables and made a spirited dash home.

I replaced the alternator in my wife's 02 MDX about 6 months ago. I hope this is not going to be much harder. I'll be on here for a while looking to see if there is a DIY. Not really sure to look but I'll be going through over 100 pages of threads. If someone knows where the thread is, PLEASE link me. Thank you.

 

I got ya, well I'm glad you made it.

The manual may help, its in the garage:

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-2005-2012-76/garage-helpful-2g-rl-info-789209/