Honda 2000 V6 Coupe Issues

Wornears

Age & Treachery
We have four cars and I do most of the major work, or at least troubleshoot it. Lately, the gremlins are winning. My daughter's Accord 2000 V6 dash has these lights lit with the engine running: Battery, Brake, Doors Open, Rear Brake Light. They all came on instantly last night upon a restart, and stay on when the car is running.

I have a friend in the local Honda Service department and he says the Accord V6 alternators from 98, 99, and 2000 go out regularly. The car has 67K miles and I bought it new and have maintained it by the book. So much for Honda reliability. I think I remember one of AK members/mods (Kam?) maintains a Honda forum. Anyone know of a "secret" warranty or other recourse to get this fixed as close to free as possible, or a relatively quick/inexpensive fix?

I've done some quick t'shooting basics. Battery inspection glass is bright green, cables are secure and clean. All lights work. Brake fluid resevoir is at MAX. All fuses are fine. Disconnected battery for 15 minutes (hoping it was just a one-time glitch, and to clear ECU), but on re-connect, lights still come on at re-start, and stay on.

But voltage across battery disconnected is 10 volts. With car running, stays at 10 volts (uh-oh), and even when revved a little, stays locked at 10 volts. Not too good.

Alternator sounds fine; is it possible to just replace parts on it (voltage regulator?) instead of the entire unit? It's $200 "good guy price" at the dealer.

Sorry to burden people here, but I'm on deadline this week editing a book on Jeff Gordon and just don't have much time to get to this until the weekend or next week. Happy New Year to me.

Thanks for any help or links to same!
 
Thanks Kam! Will do.

I guess I may have mis-applied "secret," but was thinking of the issue with the later Accords' auto trans (which this car has) and how Honda has extended the warranty on those to 100,000 miles because of the failure rate and, as I understand it, consumer pressure.

Just was wondering if there were an equivalent extension for the alternator; particularly since my service buddy says he sees many of these come in for replacement -- just like they were seeing auto trans failing.

I understand that alternators are a relatively consumable part, but with a BMW with 160K on it, and a Ford Aerostar with 183K, and both with their original ones -- crapping out at around 68K seems premature.

Thanks for your help.
 
I'm assuming those are all in one pieces without a seperate voltage regulator. 5 yrs for an alternator doesn't seem completely out of line. I've seen rebuild kits in the $25 range but have no experience using them. You can get an alternator from an auto recycler but those are warrantied for 30 days, at best, and I never trust them.

Good Luck though.

Mike
 
Thanks for the encouragement.

Per Kam, this is a Delphi (GM)-sourced unit. So, I'm going to try a local alternator service shop first to see if they will take it on once I get it off the car. I've played before the fun game of "cracking" the case open, and pressing out bearings, or metering for problems, etc. At least it won't be too cold in the garage at night -- it's 60+ today here in NC!
 
I dont know why Honda decided to use the delphi alternator. Honda should of stayed with the denso's.

Even the New GM 3800 engine assmeblys use denso's instead of delphi. Wonder Why? :scratch2:
 
Back
Top Bottom