asookazian

So my 2000 Acura TL got out of the shop last week after being there for 4 days.

I spent $1000 on oil change, tranny flush, new alternator, new battery (free from AAA warranty), and new passenger-side low-beam headlight bulb.

So last Monday morning, the car would not start. AAA dispatched a tow truck and he jump started my car. The headlight bulb blew out a month or so ago.

Mechanic said my alternator is overcharging the battery at 18.8 volts. So they replaced the alternator and AAA replaced the battery.

Collateral damage: three windows don't work (driver side does), one regulator in the right-read side needs to be replaced, and the stereo doesn't work even after they disconnect the battery and enter the code I got from the dealer.

Is this all a result of the alternator overcharging the battery or am I getting ripped off somehow?

I got some stuff fixed and some stuff now is broken. What's the deal?!!

mlrskn06

iTrader: (2)

WTF?? r u serious?
oil change - 25$
tranny flush - 120ish?
battery - 50$ at ur local autozone
HID bulb - 10-20$
alternator - i doubt even over 600$...

i remember i got my alternator replaced on my 92 accord for around 400 ish i think even less... but idk sounds to me u got ripped off but yeah i would try and get the douchebags who overcharged u to fix it or something... idk if they would be willing to though but if in fact they gave u the wrong part and u have proof they should be able to comp you somehow

01tl4tl

when you say transmission FLUSH what EXACTLY do you mean?
It may be more important than electrical at this point~

yes an overcharging alternator would blow stuff up- how much I cant say

any electric wizards encounter this?

01tl4tl

our low beam bulbs are 100 a pair if you are lucky! dealer gets 125 per bulb
hi beams are cheaper.. 10-25 dollar units

asookazian

AAA replaced battery on site for free.

DENSO remanufactured alternator $400 + labor

HID lamp bulb $90 + labor

auto tranny fluid + labor $150

Labor: $211
Parts: $616

$80/hr is their shop rate.

then the last $80 was for labor to trouble-shoot the blown fuses for windows on the fourth day in the shop.

"check electrical thru main switch, remove all 4 door panels, rear regulator broken (since when?!), install window in up position"

after which I declined any further diagnostic time to fix windows and stereo...

asookazian

btw, I didn't really argue with the owner b/c I'm not a mechanic/tech and it is a 10 yr old car with 151K miles on it. But four days in the shop and still not done?

I'm buying a 2006 RL this weekend, already gave deposit. So I'm happy overall anyways.

Another customer was happy with the shop, had been taking his car there for a while.

Plus I honestly learned more about the car than I would at a dealer anyways...

asookazian

what I'm interested in understanding is what caused the low beam and high beam bulbs to die on the passenger side simultaneously (AFAIK) and then the battery to be dead last Monday.

that still remains a mystery but I'm wondering if alternator overcharging the battery @ 18.18 volts has something to do with it????

Gfaze

The alternator essentially cooked your battery. You're lucky it didn't blowup. The max voltage output should be 15V IIRC.

totaledTL

Why not do some or all of that yourself? Save the $ to put on your RL?

phee

iTrader: (5)

tl. sounds like the shop is a disaster

asookazian

I'm totally not qualified.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

x2 kinda, but yeah everything got overvoltaged, and anyways it should be 13.8 to ~14.6 for the charging voltage

but a bad battery can easily damage an alternater in the process of going bad (which it might have been doing for a while), but normally a bad alternater does not overcharge, it normally does not charge enough , but ethier way it more then likely got damaged