Hello - I'm new to the forum and I have a question. I'm a 2000 Honda Accord, V6 owner with 156,000 miles.

This morning, the battery light, door lights, and brake light would not turn off until after about ten to fifteen minutes into my ride. The same thing happened on my way home. Initially the indicator lights stayed on for about ten - fifteen minutes, then turned off.

Is this a sign to replace the alternator? Why would the lights eventually turn off and why would the door lights and brake lights initially stay on as well?

(In both instances, I turned off the radio and heater before the lights turned off - but I'm not sure if that was just a coincidence, because I turned the radio and heaterback on to see if the battery light would turn back on and it didn't.)

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

yeah, the alternator is failing. get it checked and if bad(99% sure it's bad diodes)replaced before you get stranded. be sure to get the battery tested as well, since when the alternator fails it really bogs down the battery. most likely the diodes are shot in the alternator. you can rebuild it if you really felt up to it(which is what i plan on doing if the parts are way cheaper than a reman) but it's easier to just put a honda reman in there(that means new diodes, bushes, stator, the whole nine yards)

 

Well, I dropped it off at the dealer and they said it was indeed the Alternator failing and that it drained my battery enough that I need to replace the battery. The whole thing is costing me $650.00 - for parts and roughly three hours of labor. Am I getting raked over the coals, or is that about right?

I have no skills to do it myself, so I'm at their mercy anyway...

 

well, we charge 2.0 for that V6 alternator and .5 for the battery. they might be charging a .5 diagnostic checkout, but we include that in our total labor cost. the alternator is about $300 and our batteries are $101.25(7year prorated). depending on the labor rate it sounds about right.

 

OUCH!
That's a spendy alternator... But if parts are in fact $400 then the quote sounds about right as Hondatech stated

 

Well - to make matters worse - after they finished the job they went to put in my radio's Anti-Theft code and the card that was in the glove compartment with the code isn't working! So, somehow I managed to go 8 years with the wrong code (although I know I've gotten a new battery a few years ago!) and when I called the original dealer they said I've been purged from their system. So they'll charge me $50.00 to take out the radio and get the serial number for the code. That sucks!

 

did you already agree? you can pull the radio trim off witha few screw drivers.

 

No I didn't agree - I didn't realize it was that easy to get the serial number - I'll takea look...

and thanks!

 

Here's a step by step with pictures, enjoy!

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/Honda/Accord.html

 

very nice info there sir_nasty!

post the serial number you pull off the radio and i'll get you your code.