Did you try starting the car before you jumped it? I am just worried that its something intermittent that is unrelated to the battery or alternator. The one thing you will learn is that a lot of ppl waste money replacing parts on cars without properly diagnosing the issue. Good luck.

 

after I bought the new battery and installed it in my car it worked fine but I took it back to autozone to have them check the alternotor anyway and you guys called it. The alternator wasn't putting anything out. After I turned on the car and he read the meter he showed it to me then told me to turn the lights on, this time when he showed it to me the numbers were dropping.
He said I needed a new one but now I'm wondering if I should get it from them or buy one from the Honda dealership or online.

 

I've put aftermarket alternators in cars before, really they are remanufactured typically. Never had one go out after the initial install. One was ona Toyota Corolla, change dit at 110,000 and it was still in it when I sold the car with 215,000 on the clock.

To rest your mind, call Honda and see what they want for the part, then look online for the part, and then look at the Autozone or whatever place for a price, see if the money you save is worth doing the job twice if perhpas you need to do it again.

By the same token, I had an F150 Crew Cab, drivers power window motor went out, got an aftermarket chinese one from Advance Auto Parts, I replaced that dang motor four times in a year and a half. Then I went and got the Motorcraft one online. Never replaced it again.

 

Depends on who is going to be doing the work. Its not the hardest job to do but certainly not the easiest. It requires removing the passenger side radiator fan and the alternator is heavy so its awkward to remove and install. The alternator (accessory) belt has an auto-tensioner on it that you take a 14 or 17 mm wrench and push backwards and the belt will become loose. A lot of times shops will want to purchase the parts themselves (marking up the prices is one means of profit). So I would call around to shops to see how much its going to be and if its ok to bring your own part.

I would personally do it myself if you have friend (s) with tools and is handy. Otherwise, a trusted independent mechanic and then the dealership. Dealership will probably be the most expensive but they have probably done thousands of them (not that it is that hard).

FWIW, I have a remanufactured alternator in my Honda Accord V6 for the last 70k miles and its going strong.

 

cool, thanks a lot for all the help and advice, Honda wanted an ungodly amount for they're oem part, I found some better deals online but since the car is my daily driver I can't really afford to be carless for much longer. I'm going with the after market part because it's the only option as of now.
I called up my mom and asked who her mechanic was and it's some guy from her church, i can't recall her having any problems with her corolla, I'm taking the car over to him right now so he can check it.
since he's going to be there anyway...is there anything i should tell him to check out with a car this age? I haven't had any other problems and i got new Tires, breaks, disc and allignment about 2 months ago. I really appreciate all the help. Thanks again.
A

 

Well you are at that age where you should have (if you havent already done it) a timing belt/water pump change. Its not a cheap procedure (probably gonna be $600+) so depending on your financial status, it might be a lot to do at once. Also with that car, I would make sure you are on top of Automatic Transmission Fluid changes (at least every 24K miles). I wouldnt do an Trans Fluid flush which is what many mechanics will recommend. Otherwise, you should be in good shape.

 

I knew you'd say that! I've been in the process of saving up money for the timing belt water pump fix, so this little debacle set me back a bit on that. There's a dealership not to far from here but I live in a border city, so my genius was plan to take it to the mexican honda dealership across the border and save myself around 100 bucks. (a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks, you know) the mechanic I just dropped my car off with said he could do it, but told me that the last time he tried to change the timing belt on a car like mine he wasn't able to get access to anything because there's some sort of bolt that he was unable to get loose. He said he could try and force it but he was afraid that forcing the bolt loose might possibly crack the engine' havd you ever heard of a problem like that? I'm curious because it seems like such a weird little thing. Thanks so much.

 

Sounds like they had an issue with the crankshaft pulley bolt.

Call around and get more quotes for the t-belt job (belt, wp, seals ect...), I'd look for places that deal with Honda's.