hi all,

maybe someone has experience this and could shed some light. i was driving home today and the battery light came on and the whole dash starting to blink turning on and off and i could feel i was losing power so i put it on neutral and then the car stopped. I then started to try to start her up but no go. i thought it was the battery (bought it from costco about a yr ago). i then walked 2 miles to the nearest autozone to buy a new battery and change it and started up okay. As i was driving i was trying to accelerate but the car was jerky with rpm all over the place (felt like the car was going to die again). I didn't want to push her so i pulled in the nearest gas station and pop the hood and saw some smoke from the engine. I waited for a bit to check the coolant cap and oil dipstick to see if there were any burnt and also checked the exhaust in the back nothing. i then tried to start it back but no light nothing. i tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it and no signs of power. it was getting dark now and i didn't have a multi meter to test the voltage on the new battery. i'll see if i can find the problem tomorrow. i hope it's a simple fix.

Do you guys think it's the battery cables, alternator going bad or other electrical component. don't want to give her up but if she's giving me too much problems, i might as well let her go

it's a 2007 tl based with 110k miles.

 

Definitely sounds like the alternator. Mine was doing the same thing last week (battery light, car died when driving to my shop, jumped battery but died quickly) and I changed the alternator and then everything was good. Mine had a burning rubber smell in the front too. There was also a loud whine coming from my alternator.

 

My first take is battery and terminals because I had that same issue. Corrosion of battery terminals caused and intermittent connection.

 

thanks guys, i'll test this out tomorrow to confirm if it's a bad alternator. should i buy new or re-manufacture and OEM or AEM? I also have a parasitic draw before this problem but couldn't find where the draw was coming from. how come there is no power with the new battery i bought? there should still be power right or did the alternator draw all of it's power from the battery and the battery needs to be recharged?

 

It's your alternator. I had the same issue a few months ago, except mine cut power while I was driving at night very dangerous, and I'm at 111k miles. I also had a loud whine from the alternator as well.

You cant buy new alternators they are all reman OEM now. I think the brand is denso

 

are the duralast from autozone okay? if i order the denso from rockauto, i'll have to wait a couple of days.

 

I'd try to stick with reman OEM if I were you

 

I got my denso one from Napa.

 

That happened to me like last month! i barely made it to the shop and it went bye bye. i changed my alternator and battery, it turns out one of the wires was shorted out. check all 3, doesn't hurt

 

happy to report back with the fix issue. i couldn't get the denso one from NAPA as it would of been 3-5 days for shipment so i went with their other re-manufacture brand. it was a pain to put the new re-manufacture one back as it didn't go in snug like the old denso. random topic but i was just looking around for mini vans as i have a boy now and the 2016 odyseey ex-l interest me so i got several quotes ranging from $34-35K OTD or should i wait for the new 2017 to come out. i was really consider trading this 2007 tl based with 110k miles (rating excellent good average poor ) i would rate it average how much you guys think i can trade it in for. I was thinking $5500-6500. It drives good and doesn't have CEL and the front left high beam doesn't work and the fog lights are out and turn signal lights blink too fast.

thanks all for the input.

 

If you have the money, new with warranty is always better, but depreciation will surely take it's toll, money
down the drain. A 2013 EX-L is around $21000, drop of about $14000 from new. Not bad, but about
$400 p/month. Can do a lot of repairs for that money.
Good luck

 

thanks for the input i will also consider a used 2015 ex-l with 12,781 miles their asking $30k but i will offer them $28k otd hope they accept.

 

You are ready to go full on mini-van with a single kid?

 

as much as i love driving the tl, sadly yes moving on to the mini van market as it's mostly for the wifey cause it'll be more convenient for her to take the kiddo here and there and shopping. i'll be driving her old 2002 avalon that needs some fixing up-decisions decisions