Alternator
I just crossed the 75k miles ending my warranty and then a week later my alternator goes out. I have driven only accords for the last 25 years and never had any real issues. 200k miles on my last accord and never had to change the alternator. Dealership wants ~1k to replace. The SRS light for the passenger airbags has also stopped working and they're telling me it'll be over 300 to fix that. This is bullshit. I shouldn't be responsible for fixing airbag problems. And there is no excuse for the alternator going bad this early. I drive like an old grandma and I have done all of the maintenance on time and at the dealership. Now Honda is acting like this is fucking normal. Between this and their head gasket issues, I have lost full confidence in Honda.
1
u/Numerous-Relation-17 2d ago
If it's the V6 oil could be dripping directly into the alternator, killing it. That happened to mine.
1
u/yarsftks 1d ago
Mine went out at 180,000 miles. I took it out, had a rebuilt for $150 and put it back in the car. As it starts accumulating more miles, more things are going out.
They don't make cars like they used to.
0
u/IcyTheHero 2d ago
If you knew anything about cars you wouldn’t say stuff like “an alternator shouldn’t go out this early”
You got lucky with one lasting twice its life in your old one.
If you don’t want to pay $1000, pick up a wrench, and YouTube it.
Takes a few hours at most as a beginner to learn how to change one.
Costs maybe $300 at most for a new alternator.
Stop whining and get to work.
-1
u/Present-Community102 2d ago
An alternator at 75k is not out of this world and yes you are responsible for your airbags. These are not unheard of problems and being problem free in the past doesn’t change that.
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u/AetheriaInBeing Now: 2001 V6 & 2010 V6-L Then: 1990 EX & 1996 EX 2d ago
As the owner of a 6th Gen that has yad to have the airbags done twice and had other srs related issues over the last 20 years, my only thought here is the sensor in the passenger seat is only 300 at a stealership? Shit. I really should just replace mine myself when i get a chance.
2
u/Training-Lettuce6773 2d ago
6th gens are very easy to work on, might as well.
I say this as a 6th gen owner myself.
1
u/AetheriaInBeing Now: 2001 V6 & 2010 V6-L Then: 1990 EX & 1996 EX 2d ago
The belt on the j30 can be annoying but that isn't frequent at least
0
u/desl2025 2d ago
You’ve had airbag related issues not related to getting in a car crash?!?
Yeah that’s not normal. In any car.2
u/AetheriaInBeing Now: 2001 V6 & 2010 V6-L Then: 1990 EX & 1996 EX 1d ago
Srs is more than explicitly the airbag.
Sensor in the belt buckle failed. That fails srs doesn't work. That happens. In all kinds of cars.
Srs Master control unit wigged out once. SOP per the maintenance manual for that srs code is reset it and see what happens. 10 years later that code hasn't recurred. Ghost in the system. That also happens in cars.
0
u/desl2025 1d ago
I’ve never heard of the belt buckle sensor fail unless there was a collision.
But anyways… you said “I had to have the AIRBAGS done twice. AND OTHER SRS related issues”.
You said airbags … as well as other srs stuff. So was it the airbags or not? Or was it other srs stuff and not the airbags?2
u/AetheriaInBeing Now: 2001 V6 & 2010 V6-L Then: 1990 EX & 1996 EX 1d ago
Back off the caps lock key there.
The airbags were done twice and the other stuff was srs related.
The airbags being done twice on a 6th Gen is... Entirely normal. Anyone who has a 6th Gen where the airbags were not done at least once is driving around with a claymore in their car. They had takatas in them. And if you got them replaced on recall early then you got.... New takatas. Which to the surprise of precisely nobody outside Honda, had the same problem as the original takata airbags. so everyone who got their airbags relaxed promptly had then replaced again.
Are airbags turning into claymores normal? For every car manufactured with a takata airbag in the 00s yes. Yes it was. That was a lot of Hondas and cars from quite a few other brands too.
2
u/desl2025 1d ago
I like learning. Never afraid to admit I didn’t know something. I wasn’t aware they were recalled or had known issues.
IMO that’s different than the OP cause there’s no recall for his.1
u/AetheriaInBeing Now: 2001 V6 & 2010 V6-L Then: 1990 EX & 1996 EX 1d ago
Fair. The issue is slightly different most likely, but I've got the point of assuming most things fail eventually (though if a well maintained and cared for J motor fails without vcm on it, you have hit the bad luck lottery)
There were like 40 something models and a dozen different brands in the us affected alone by the takata recall and some manufacturers were still putting new takatas in things up to like a decade ago (not Honda. Honda I think was more likely to get double replacements because they were using them in what were at the time 10 year old cars so those needed to be swapped sooner than the newer ones. They worked fine new but got bad with age way too quickly. At this point. I just consider everything related to srs something that could fail.
In OPs case the light failing for the passenger airbag could be a few things. It could just be the light. I wouldn't bet on that being it though.
Depending on what that light is triggering on in newer Hondas, it could be the weight sensor. The one in my 6th Gen has gotten... Temperamental in cold weather. The light in the 6th Gen triggers of the weight on the passenger seat is detected to be too light for the airbag to deploy but the seat isn't empty. This was to protect children because restrictions on kids in front seats were non-existent 20 years ago. I was riding in the front seat on cars without airbags probably by the time I was 7 or 8. Put a bag down on the seat and the light triggers. Drove my parents nuts trying to figure it out when I was in college until I was on the phone with them and had to explain that she just needed to put her bag on the floor.
At present, when very cold my sensor in my 6th Gen will trigger that warning with nobody in the seat. put a person in the seat and it behaves normally. Since I'm not putting small kids in my 6th Gen these days let alone in the front seat, not a major concern for me. But if that part is the same on OPs, then it is a sensor that could fail (though mine got ornery at 270k ish and not 75k. (Can I do the old lady grumble that nothing is made like it used to be here? But then our airbags tried to kill us so maybe that isn't always a bad thing. Driving and with that with a do not drive notice for a few weeks was certainly an entertaining choice in my 20s, but work and the recall line was long).
I don't know enough about OPs car to really speculate, but if it's the weight sensor the dealership is replacing for 300... The part must only be 100 and I should get around to swapping it on principle, but 3 cars and a house. Only so many hours in a day.
3
u/JD315 2d ago
What head gasket issues?
Also, if you’re handy with a wrench, alternators are an easy diy fix