How long does an alternator last??
12 years and 256,780 miles to be exact......
Driving home on the interstate under full electrical load on the hottest day of the summer when all the gauges freaked out and the entire dash went dark. The van was still running but would not down shift. Made it to the top of the off ramp and it died, I got a jump start and made it the 7 miles home. Took the alternator out and brought it to NAPA to confirm my suspicions, it was dead. $202 w/tax for a new (reman) one and off I went. took about an hour getting it out and 1/2 hour to get it back it, complicated slightly by having to take out the PS fluid reservoir.
Now you know.
Driving home on the interstate under full electrical load on the hottest day of the summer when all the gauges freaked out and the entire dash went dark. The van was still running but would not down shift. Made it to the top of the off ramp and it died, I got a jump start and made it the 7 miles home. Took the alternator out and brought it to NAPA to confirm my suspicions, it was dead. $202 w/tax for a new (reman) one and off I went. took about an hour getting it out and 1/2 hour to get it back it, complicated slightly by having to take out the PS fluid reservoir.
Now you know.
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I've seen some posts, they seem to run into the 150k area for starters and those seem to be intermittent before they die. Alternators seem to last longer or there's not as many posts on them.
AFAIK no warnings. My wife was driving at a the time. I asked her if she saw the "Battery" warning light before it happened. She said no, but then again she is not real reliable when it comes to noticing things like that.
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Sonntakke: "I meant any other warnings before alt light coming on"
Sometimes the radio will drop out or headlights will dim (if they are on). Otherwise, no.....
Sometimes the radio will drop out or headlights will dim (if they are on). Otherwise, no.....
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346 Posts
mine is out right now its the original and I have 171k miles...my door lights went on and battery on and did a load test with car on battery volts dropped to 11.5volts and keeps dropping. NO load on battery its 12.5volts or so.
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250-350k alternator $400
Original Honda Alternator lasted 300k miles / 14 years, 2003 Accord LX; 303,681 miles (maybe subtract a few percent, because I think that my odometer overestimates). The mileage distribution follows: 36k unknown driver (not a great one, given the state of the interior and exterior of the car and apparent collision damage). 247k engineering student (80-95%)and a few occasional borrowers of the car. 20k novice driver with lots of electrical car modifications I attribute the long life of the alternator to the engineering student (myself). I could also praise Honda for the part and Seattle for cool weather (40-80 year-round). On the day of failure, we had a week of hot smokey weather ~95 degrees F (20-degrees above the average, for this time of year, August, our hottest) and clouded with thick smoke from forest fires. The stock radio was on full blast, there were aftermarket HID headlights, there was an aftermarket aux adapter attached, there was a charger plugged into the 12V port, the air conditioner was on. The alternator gave a variety of warnings: the ABS light flashed, the radio cut out intermittently, the red engine light came on solidly. These warnings persisted for about a week (not every day). In the final two days, the warnings were more frequent. The novice brought the car to O'Reilly for free computer reading. The engine codes were 54-1 and 61-1. Then he contacted me. This was the first that I had heard of there being any problem. I traveled to meet him at the parts store. I checked the ABS fuse (internet plus markings under the lid). The fuse looked fine. I still could have switched on the car to go to the shop. The novice insisted on having the car towed. We did that. I searched the web and found that the alternator was our suspect. I checked my maintenance records and found no alternator update. When the mechanic called me, I started with "It's the alternator?" He confirmed and added that he would waive the diagnostic fee. He mentioned that the alternator output amperage was wildly fluctuating under relatively constant voltage. I think that if I had been the vehicle operator for the past 1.5 years, then the alternator would have reached 330k miles before replacement. Never was the car especially unsafe for the operator and the passenger. $378 and I may have set a record for alternator longevity (2003 Accord Stock).
Original Honda Alternator lasted 300k miles / 14 years, 2003 Accord LX; 303,681 miles (maybe subtract a few percent, because I think that my odometer overestimates). The mileage distribution follows: 36k unknown driver (not a great one, given the state of the interior and exterior of the car and apparent collision damage). 247k engineering student (80-95%)and a few occasional borrowers of the car. 20k novice driver with lots of electrical car modifications I attribute the long life of the alternator to the engineering student (myself). I could also praise Honda for the part and Seattle for cool weather (40-80 year-round). On the day of failure, we had a week of hot smokey weather ~95 degrees F (20-degrees above the average, for this time of year, August, our hottest) and clouded with thick smoke from forest fires. The stock radio was on full blast, there were aftermarket HID headlights, there was an aftermarket aux adapter attached, there was a charger plugged into the 12V port, the air conditioner was on. The alternator gave a variety of warnings: the ABS light flashed, the radio cut out intermittently, the red engine light came on solidly. These warnings persisted for about a week (not every day). In the final two days, the warnings were more frequent. The novice brought the car to O'Reilly for free computer reading. The engine codes were 54-1 and 61-1. Then he contacted me. This was the first that I had heard of there being any problem. I traveled to meet him at the parts store. I checked the ABS fuse (internet plus markings under the lid). The fuse looked fine. I still could have switched on the car to go to the shop. The novice insisted on having the car towed. We did that. I searched the web and found that the alternator was our suspect. I checked my maintenance records and found no alternator update. When the mechanic called me, I started with "It's the alternator?" He confirmed and added that he would waive the diagnostic fee. He mentioned that the alternator output amperage was wildly fluctuating under relatively constant voltage. I think that if I had been the vehicle operator for the past 1.5 years, then the alternator would have reached 330k miles before replacement. Never was the car especially unsafe for the operator and the passenger. $378 and I may have set a record for alternator longevity (2003 Accord Stock).
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222 Posts
2004 with 150k miles. Still have the original alternator, but the starter failed in 2011 at 90k miles. I have thought about having the alternator rebuilt locally if I plan to take another long trip as a preventative.
My 2005 Accord EX 4 cyl had the alternator fail earlier this year at 140k miles.
My 2005 Accord EX 4 cyl had the alternator fail earlier this year at 140k miles.
I'd say, it's hit or miss... I was on here looking for fix to the '0:00' Navigation issue.... But my '02 ('01 build) is going in on Monday for an alternator... So, 16-years and 223.000-miles out of mine. And she has lived in SoCal/Ariz heat her entire life. I'm going with the Denso ReMan...
Mine started a 'humming' (I actually posted about it on the Forum as I had never heard the sound before). But other than the humming, no lights came on, but I noticed the below:
Poor acceleration/power
Humming (different pitch than a P/S pump and increased/decreased with speed)
Slight rough idle
Interior lights dimmed if engine put under load
I finally Google'd and started the engine, removed the positive battery cable and the engine died....
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