There's a first time for everything. I finally had to have a car towed. Sadly, it was my 2008 TL.

I left work tonight, and as soon as I came to a stop at a light, my car started kind of jerking, and the battery light went on. Thankfully, I was right across the intersection from a gas station, so I pulled into the parking lot. A code I can't remember came up on the display and then more things started flashing, the ABS light, the air bag light, etc. I called my mechanic and he said it sounded like the alternator and to not try to drive it. I had to move it to a better place in the parking lot, but it wouldn't drive in reverse - luckily I was able to move forward and maneuver it into a decent place to wait for the tow truck. Hurray for AAA! Got towed to the mechanic, but it won't get looked at until tomorrow. I took Uber home.

I'm assuming it's the alternator, and hoping it's nothing more expensive and more complicated. My car has roughly 95,555 miles on it (it hit that mileage a couple days ago). I guess that's a good length of time for an alternator to last, but I don't really know.

This car is getting to be expensive with repairs, but still nowhere near the level of a new car payment so I'm trying to stay positive. I'm still a bit shaky from this afternoon though - having my car almost die in a busy intersection sucked.

This was more of a rant than anything, but I am curious how long alternators have lasted in your cars. Is almost 100K miles good for that part? I wonder if it's a part that should just be replaced after a certain amount of time, even if it's still working OK, to help avoid what can be a scary situation.

 

That's not premature at all. Glad you were safe and accessible to help.

 

The alternator in my 2001 V6 Accord lasted 180,000 miles before it went Tango Uniform while on the freeway between Boston and NYC.

 

Could still just be a bad battery. Should've just asked the gas station to test it (or maybe they don't do that there?).

And since you asked, 267K miles/13.8 years and original alternator still going....

 

Still have my original alternater in my '01 TL now with 293K miles.

 

Wow, that's a lot of miles on one alternator.

It definitely was the alternator on my car causing the problems. It's fixed now. Fingers crossed nothing else goes wrong for a while.

 

03 TLS, 231K original alternator

 

Same here! 267K miles, 13½ years
.
.

 

not on a TL but my 2001 IS300 running on original alternator at 200k miles.

 

me too....246,000 miles and 10 years

 

5 Honda products. All purchased used. Drove 60K-130K on each of them, pushing most to 200K or more. Never changed an alternator. Had to change the PS pump at about 180K on my '93 Accord. That's it as far a belt driven accessories go.

 

ive heard heat is what kills alternator, on my older honda i installed DC headers and it cooked my alternator after 30k since there wasnt a head shield protecting it.

 

Extreme temperatures on both ends of the spectrum are detrimental to the health of electronic components.

 

04' with 273,000 miles on the original alternator

 

I had to replace my alternator at about 150,000 miles. '05 TL

 

82k miles... roughly 2 weeks after I bought it. Dropped off my son at his mothers house and after I got back into my car and started it, whining like hell!!!, knew right away what it was, only to get a message the next day to confirm the malfunction. Just under $300.00 to have it replaced, honestly not as bad as I thought it would be. I could have done it myself, but honestly wouldn't have even saved myself much, I was a Honda mechanic for 5 years 20 years ago, and while I could have easily replaced it, my time nowadays is worth the few extra bucks. Not to mention... that serpentine belt is a real pain in the ass to re-sync.

 

I understand that totally. My daughter had the '05 TL yesterday, said the radio/navi started acting strange just before the car cut off in the entryway to Panda Express. Wouldn't start back up. My guess was alternator (similar thing happened to me in college). My car is at almost 145K.

@tpz76 where did you get your new alternator?

 

Replaced my at 138 k.

 

144K and still going

 

79,000 miles

 

112k miles. then one time randomly my entire car shut off while driving at night. probably the scariest car situation i've ever been in...no lights, nothing, i was just a sitting duck on the street. luckily i was able to roll into a turn out with no one around

towed it to a shop that night and they replaced it with a reman one the next day while i was at work. i think total was right under 300

 

^^^^ So once the alternator quit, your car only ran until the battery was toast? No sign of a weak start before this happened? That is a very scary situation...

 

yup exactly it went until the battery went, very scary. no sign of a weak start

so i was about a mile from home and the navigation screen flickered and then went out. i was still driving and then the speedometer and dash all went to 0. then the dash flickered and went completely out. now i'm about a half mile from home and the complete interior goes dark. a few seconds later the car just dies and now i'm light-less just rolling no power down a dark street (50mph speed limit). rolled into a turn out about 1/4th mile from my house

now that i know the signs, at the first sign of any electronic failure in the future, i will immediately get off the road and have it towed to be safe. i didn't know what those signs meant exactly and i thought i could make it the last mile home. i won't try that again it's not worth it.

 

Strange indeed. Wonder why the charging system indicator light never came on. Theoretically, it should have illuminated as soon as the alternator died...

 

My cousin GS350 had 155k miles when the alternator died, we just drove around and all the sudden it poop on us. It pooped with no warning, first he got power steering check light is on and the next time it does is completely cut off the power to the rack and pinion (electric steering) then engine stall about 15 secs after that.