Alternator Replacement
 

My alternator is on it's last days. What brand is recommended for its replacement? I have a 08 TL base nav.

OEM or Denso.

Denso IS the OEM. Rockauto has the best pricing.
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Understood, I should have said, buy either an OEM-Denso unit from the likes of Bernardi.com or a Denso unit from pretty much anywhere.

Rock auto has Denso reman units w/12 month warranty $106 & $156.
If it were me, I'd purchase the TYC new unit w/lifetime warranty and no core deposit $140.
Why purchase new $383 or reman from dealer $306 w/12 month warranty?

Use 8694889115713113 in how did you hear about us and receive 5% discount on parts expires 9/2/2018

OP, how do you know your alternator is "on it's last days.." ?

Great question!

Granted my experience with Honda/Acura alternators is relatively limited; as a general statement I'd say they either work or don't; there really is no in between unless you're talking about say, a noisy bearing which may fail sooner than later.

I knew mine was on it's way our with the whining noise one morning, but what's funny is it died in less than 12 hours from the time I heard it in the morning to the time I parked it in my garage for the night.

Get a Denso. Don't learn the hard way like i did when i initially replaced mine with one from Autozone. Checking with my own meter after the Autozone one did nothing to cure what ailed me, the one I replaced put out more voltage than the new one from Autozone! Needless to say, I replaced the Autozone one with a new Denso, and all is well.

What happened when it died? Did you have a low voltage warning or a check engine light? Or did the car just stop running?

When the alternator went Tango Uniform in my Accord, the battery light illuminated on the dash; I shut off all non-essential electrical loads and drove to the closest dealership for the replacement. Unless the battery is flat, the car will not quit running.

I always heard that it was the alternator is what keeps the car running even if the battery is flat.. Like if you "jump start" the car..
But if the alternator is bad, I didnt think it just went out all at once! But hey, maybe these TL's, they do? If so, I might want to replace mine ..
I am at 92k miles.
When do they typically fail?

Correct, if the alternator goes then the battery will keep the car running until it goes flat.

One data point; the alternator on my Accord went out at 172,000 miles (which was at the fifteen year mark).

ok, but I never heard of an alternator just going out at once.. They usually just have a low charge for a while, then they slowly begin to not charge. I never heard of it happening within 12 hours. haha But hey it might..

There are various integrated electronics inside an alternator which can fail instantly. In the case of my Accord, the alternator failed in the blink of an eye.

Cool beans in 2018

When mine began to fail, the car would randomly die even while driving down the road at speed. Never saw a low voltage indicator or any warning lights. And, when we would jump it to start it again, it would sometimes go into "limp mode" and not upshift, forcing you to drive slow. These TLs depend HEAVILY on a good charging system. As someone else posted above, my original alternator lasted almost 200k miles. You will know when yours starts to die. I would NOT replace it as a preventative maintenance item. A good alternator is something to cherish. ;-)

So how did you figure out it was your alternator? Did you just start checking things randomly? knowing it was an electrical issue?

IMO: Alternators, don't typically fail, after a given number of miles, or years. My 03 TLS, is over 15 years old, with 241K, still with it's original alternator.

Agreed, they go when they decide to go. As with many other things automotive related, an OEM alternator could fail at say, 150,000 miles and then the replacement could fail at say, 25,000 mile, or, the OEM unit could go 250,000. This is not something I ever recommend for a prophylactic replacement.

Thinking about that last comment for a bit, the only preemptive component replacement I've ever done (besides a water pump during a Timing Belt replacement) was an A/C compressor. Why? Because when a compressor grenades, it is extra work to get all of the resultant shrapnel out of the system, whereas, swapping in a new/remanufactured compressor is relatively simple.

My car had low voltage with the lights flashing a bit and I also had the smelly gas fumes also and low engine power output. When I parked for the night in the garage it smelled like a skunk and was struggling to make it in the garage to park.

Just wondering. Is it possible that faulty alternafor influence fuel consumption. I've got one that gave about 13,9-14,2 while charging. The voltage started to jump and I've changed the unit. It appeared that old one was chinese crap, even rebuild once. The new one charging voltage is 14,4-14,6. After driving for a while it appeared that fuel consumption dropped - mph in city raised about 1-2 and on highway about 3-4. I've read here that honda/acura applied some kind of charging program and it appeares that 0,5 charging voltage drop may stop this program working.

Check the mileage again after a few times of starting and drivng and turning off the motor. On the 3rd gen TL anytime you disconnect power, the ecm has to relearn and readjust the idle and who knows whatelse... If you check the mileage during that time, it probably won't be optimum.

342K miles and STILL have the original alternator and starter!
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My original starter went Tango Uniform last year after I started letting the car sit for weeks on end. If I would let it say, for 3 weeks, it would start first try, but for the rest of the day it would struggle to start the engine. If I then tried to start the car the next day, and then every other day or so after that, no issues. Then I'd let the car sit for a few weeks again and the entire cycle started all over again.

I had a remanufactured Denso starter put in and haven't had an issue since; in fact, the new starter starts the engine more energetically than my old starter did at its best.

8 months later....
I just noticed my car has been getting harder to start. And it even clicked at me 2 days ago and failed to crank. Then I turned it off, then back on, and all of a sudden it started. I thought maybe the battery was going bad. The battery was 2.8 years old. And its been cold in Tulsa. So, I thought "replace battery". These batteries go out like clock work most the time. So I bought new battery last night. Walmart checked the battery and said it was "good". I'm like, "give me the battery anyway". (I didnt trust their machine) plus, I dont like waiting until the last minute when a battery goes completely capoot and leaves you stranded. So, I replaced the battery in the walmart back lot.. And when I started the car, to my surprise it did not spin as fast as I thought it should for being a NEW BATTERY. So I scratched my head and moved on.. The car sat overnight, and just now this morning, it wont start at all! Brand new battery and no cranking!. The interior lights do come on. So I pulled out my GB40 NOCO Geniusboost Battery jumper, and I connected it to the new battery and Still no cranking. All Silent. No crank. Granted the Jumper battery is at 50%, so I am charging the jumper battery now and going to try Again. If it doesn't work after I charge the jumper battery, then It's got to be the starter. And I am hoping the alternator is not involved... I have not seen any Warning lights on the cluster at any time. *sigh*

I have no way of testing the alternator.. But The only possibility the alternator would be involved at this point, I would have had to completely drained the new battery coming home last night from walmart. but its only about 5 miles.

I replaced the OEM starter at about 65k miles. And now I am at 119k miles .
Still on Original OEM alternator

Check this out.. Rockauto says a New starter is cheaper than a Reman? I dont understand!
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ter+motor,4152




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