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Almost got stranded for the first time, but the old TL wasn't going to go down without a fight.
Visiting family in Cleveland (2 hours or so from Columbus), and they were in the middle of a decent snow/ice storm. We were planning on driving back through it Saturday night when we left.
Went and started up my car to warm it up.
Came back outside about 10 mins later ready to leave, and I was like huh...I swore I started my car up and had it running... the car was completely dead, key still in the on position. No power at all. I figured it was the alternator, considering the car shouldn't have started and ran fine, only to completely die 10 mins later.
My mother in law had limited tools at her place, didn't have a volt meter so the best I could do was cleaning the terminals on the battery just in case the slight corrosion was an issue.
Got a jump, the car started up fine. Alternator/charging light was now on, and I could now hear a bit of a whine that sounded very similar to my PS pump. I figured, what else are we going to do - It's about 6pm, I could get a new battery, but if it is truly the alternator, there's no sense in that. We just said screw it, the car has been running seemingly fine for 15 mins since the jump, lets just risk it.
We made it the entire drive back. Charging light was on the entire time. Opened the hood when I got home, tested battery voltage and it was good. The alternator was hotter than hell, and smelled a bit like a burning smell.....so I immediately ordered a replacement Denso one off of rockauto.
Not driving my car until I can throw the new one in. Fortunately have another vehicle until then. Ultimately, the alternator has lasted 230k miles, which is a good life in my opinion.
So you decided to made a 2 hours trip back home with bad alternator, in winter, after the snow storm? Pretty bold if you ask me.
Anyways, 230k is good. No idea why but I replaced plenty of Honda alternators and they all had ~120-150k on the clock.
And in the dark! Yeah, it sounds dumb. It WAS dumb.... I knew it could have completely failed at pretty much any time. The fact that the car ran fine after the jump just idling for a bit gave me the (over?)confidence I needed.
To your point, replacing them early is definitely the move. I misdiagnosed a PS pump noise that occurred a few months back as an alternator issue, and I was about to replace the alternator then. I ended up rebuilding the PS pump myself, and I figured "well the sound is gone, everything must be fine now". I should have done them both at once, especially considering replacing the alt (on these cars, at least) isn't hard.
your lasted 230k miles, mine RL only lasted 135k miles before I heard that infamous noise. That is the 2nd Honda alternator I replaced that less than 150k miles.
My OEM alternator started showing signs a day or 2 before it gave up. Then, got the battery light more frequently until it just stayed lit on a 20 min drive home.
The alternator was easy to unbolt, but that sucker was wedged into my engine tight!
Be glad your alternator story doesn't end like mine did - the last time I started my TL-S on that alternator, the thing started smoking, so I went inside to get a pitcher of water. I returned to find the alternator gently ablaze! Like @WDPanda, my alternator bolts were easy to remove but the alternator itself was crazy difficult to pry out (as was cramming in the new one).
Glad you got home without issue. You got lucky, man!
This job was pretty easy, minus the fact I got caught up on something silly (like most DIY jobs...)
I took pics of the entire process, I figured I'd put them into a DIY thread here, since there seems to not be an official one (with pics, at least). There are a few youtube videos, but none of them were complete enough to just watch that single vid and have all questions answered.
Anyhow, I'll try to write up the DIY in the next few days.
Charging light is gone, battery voltage is good, and the system is running perfect.
This is what 230k miles looks like vs new (remanufactured Denso, at least)
A write up wouldn't be a bad idea, I had to remove my alternator a couple years ago when I changed my field coil & clutch assembly on my A/C compressor, fortunate haven't had to replace it yet. I didn't really do any research on removing it, but it was fairly straight forward, other than the lower mounting bolt. That thing barely comes out once you have it lose. lol
^^
I was going to ask you how you managed to get the Alt. pulley off the old and on to the new, then I observed the new had a pulley on already.
I had to remove a HBP from the alternator on my project CL-S recently and, oh what a PIA that was. Even with an impact gun, it just kept spinning the nut, until the nut caught somehow and then spun off.
^^
I was going to ask you how you managed to get the Alt. pulley off the old and on to the new, then I observed the new had a pulley on already.
I had to remove a HBP from the alternator on my project CL-S recently and, oh what a PIA that was. Even with an impact gun, it just kept spinning the nut, until the nut caught somehow and then spun off.
^^
I was going to ask you how you managed to get the Alt. pulley off the old and on to the new, then I observed the new had a pulley on already.
I had to remove a HBP from the alternator on my project CL-S recently and, oh what a PIA that was. Even with an impact gun, it just kept spinning the nut, until the nut caught somehow and then spun off.
Similar thing happened to me with the PS pump pulley, my battery powered impact didn't budge the nut, and using a breaker obviously wasn't possible without some pulley holding tool like thoiboi posted above. I actually ended up going out and buying my first pneumatic impact because of that single nut lol. Took it right off though!
I've done the Alt on my TL and MDX, hardest and longest and most frustrating part was getting the damn thing out of the engine bay. Also you CAN'T cheat on the MDX like you can on the TL with the Tensioner pulley. You need an long thing cheater bar they sell at Autozone to get the belt back on with ease on MDX because of bolts and air conditioner lines. This step took forever and I finally spent the $10 on the part and put belt on in 20 seconds smh.
250k on original alternator and i do 350 miles a week. crossing my fingers. Considering replacing prematurely to not get stranded. Along with radiator--those seem to crack as well.
250k on original alternator and i do 350 miles a week. crossing my fingers. Considering replacing prematurely to not get stranded. Along with radiator--those seem to crack as well.
I might now be biased, but you definitely should replace it before it fails. It's not too hard to do, I am planning on writing up a DIY thread w/ pics for it this weekend. As for the radiator.....I didn't even think of that....
I've done the Alt on my TL and MDX, hardest and longest and most frustrating part was getting the damn thing out of the engine bay. Also you CAN'T cheat on the MDX like you can on the TL with the Tensioner pulley. You need an long thing cheater bar they sell at Autozone to get the belt back on with ease on MDX because of bolts and air conditioner lines. This step took forever and I finally spent the $10 on the part and put belt on in 20 seconds smh.
I would agree it is hard moving that thing, but THE hardest was lining it back up! I used a small pick because I can't see at that angle to make sure the holes were lined up to avoid cross threading. Boy was that fun.
lmao you guy complaining about the TL? have any of you look into the engine bay in my KB1 RL? some of you might though how the hell the able put the J35A8 in there.
Try working on Ford 6.4L diesels. Hate those things. 3h to replace both belts, 3h to replace thermostat. I don't think there's anything on that car than take less than 2h. And everything is covered with oil.
...Along with radiator--those seem to crack as well.
That transmission cooler connection at the radiator will make for a very bad day if you let it. I'd say that it's definitely worth keeping an eye on, maybe replacing before it breaks.
