'06 Euro Alternator

[kernel]

thanks MRGU, I may do it myself, if I can find a wrecker in Bendigo that is open this Saturday. Otherwise my Auto Electrician in Melbourne can do it. I can understand BMW dealers quoting $1,500 for a genuine alternator (they are all made by Denso or Bosch anyway) but not Hondas. Who do these bandits think they are?

[mrgu]

I know....it's ridiculous.. Honda alt is denso...try ur luck in melb...best case scenario..try Hondwreck on west all rd

[brokenback]

It's probably a regulator assy or brushes. Honda gives a complete breakdown of test & repair of the alternator in their manual...well the manual I got (for my 8th gen widebody Accord alternator...probably the same) on line from an American site.

Honda dealer wants to sell you $1300 of parts and not $120 (guessing price) for a regulator pack or $20 for brushes! Usually the fail is the regulator or brushes but you can test all this. Any Auto electrician can easily fix this.

[Ironfist]

This has happened to me, 110,000km's Battery check light came on.

When i checked the battery indicator it just went from green to no colour within 5 hrs (which usually means dead battery?) however the car would still turn over quite easily.

I did notice that when the car is on, there is a louder electrical squealing noise at low rpm.

From my description a mechanic friend says it is most likely the alternator as flat batteries usually don't start the car (and i've experienced this before), and is thinking that it could be the bushes/regulator that need changing.

Does anyone know if it is an internal or external regulator? and are there specific Part No's. for the honda accord euro 2006 regulator/bushes or can any off the shelf product do?

[Malicious]

Hi just rebuilt my alternator
was told that you can't repair these , what I found to be the biggest issue was the rectifiers had packed it in, regulator was ok but it was apart so in went a new one.
bought the parts from Trump auto electrical in vic.
regulator $66 , brushes $16, rectifier plate $77 plus $12 freight.
from local bearing shop bearings cost me about $22 ( beer economy) .
less than $200 all up.


Also was at Autobarn the other day and they could supply a denso replacment for $380.

honda wanted $1300, screw that.

so since I told the minister for finance that it would cost about $600, I had some change to spend on items to yet be decided

Will list the parts later

[Ironfist]

**update
Rang a company up in my area who wanted $520 for alternator plus $220 for install (as i have no tools or clue on how to change it) who said that they also supply honda.

In the end found a company on ebay "trump auto electrician" (coincidentally same as above poster) $263 for a new alternator and a mate of mine installed it. They were easy to deal with, paid money and picked it up same day.

Initially i was going to get the regulator for $66 plus bearing but couldnt find the bearing, good thing i didnt as my mate said that the heat sinks had melted the regulator on it, which might have happen to the above poster.

if you do the sums its not to much more to get a new alternator which comes witha 12month warrenty and less headaches

[3URO]

Just had a similar incident as the OP.

i had a 80k service done, and 3 days later the battery light is on. Mechanic has quoted $900 for honda or $350 for non-genuine with 12 months warranty for part only.

Going by the responses in this thread so far, i wont be going for a brand new Honda part.

Are there any recommendations for places in Sydney from where i can get an alternator? Or should I try my luck with wreckers?

Trump Auto are still selling on Ebay for $245. Would that be my best bet still.

Thanks

[Martin77]

It seems like the alternator is another weak point in our Euro.
I also have heard that the grounding wire for this car is not too good. I am wondering whether the problem is inter related where a weakness on the wire has subsequent effect like the alternator, battery indicator, dimming lights, etc.... I have bought 3 cables (1x4gauge and 2x 8gauge) and got them crimped. I will replace the existing battery grounding cable with the thicker cable (may also improve the contact point) and add grounding cable to the alternator and maybe the engine also. I hope to install it next week.

[Fredoops]

It seems like the alternator is another weak point in our Euro.

it's usually the regulator that fails as far as I know.

I also have heard that the grounding wire for this car is not too good. I am wondering whether the problem is inter related where a weakness on the wire has subsequent effect like the alternator, battery indicator, dimming lights, etc.... I have bought 3 cables (1x4gauge and 2x 8gauge) and got them crimped. I will replace the existing battery grounding cable with the thicker cable (may also improve the contact point) and add grounding cable to the alternator and maybe the engine also. I hope to install it next week.

I changed the battery ground to a 2 gauge or something from Supercheap (pretty sure it was for V8's lol, twice as thick as OEM, for about 12 bucks), and I have a secondary ground on the other side of the engine.

I also have a voltage stabilizer between the batteries, 20 bucks off ebay and kept my last battery lasted 6 years despite my abuse....

The car's not very well grounded. at all. theres 2 grounding points, battery and a non-insulated/exposed braided metal wire of a thing acting as a secondary ground on the driver side of the engine, the OEM battery ground deteriorates over time (chucked that away after 7 years), and the secondary ground is right next to the power steering hose that used to leak (there was a recall about that 5 years ago), I dont trust it, hence all the gizmodo's i've put in it, cant complain, my 12 year old alternator is still putting out 14.3-14.5.

If you're going to change grounding:

1. Add a ground between engine block and chassis (on the driver side preferably)
2. Ground alternator
3. Ground the injector base/intake manifold to the engine block, use a think/small wire is sufficient if i remembered correctly, i used a 18 gauge i think....

[Martin77]

Thanks for this Fred.
I don't trust the grounding on the chassis of the car so I might add the wire grounding cable for the alternator and intake manifold straight to the negative battery terminal. I bought this battery terminal from Jaycar. This allows me to replace the battery grounding cable to the thicker cable (yes one I have is also 2 gauge (35 mm2), about double the thickness) and also route the additional alternator and chassis wire to the battery.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/Sight-%26-S...minal/p/HC4049

Fred, with the left over 2 gauge wire, do you think I should also replace the braided grounding wire?

I have Pivot raizin voltage stabiliser on my old work car (20 years old now (not the euro), people at work laughed at it. To me it does help the battery a little as it makes starting a little easier (less drain on the battery, making it last a little longer).

[Fredoops]

Thanks for this Fred.
I don't trust the grounding on the chassis of the car so I might add the wire grounding cable for the alternator and intake manifold straight to the negative battery terminal.

theres 2 chassis grounding points, one on neg battery terminal and one on the other driver side (that braided thing)connect to either should be fine as long as that braided wire is upgraded (or added to)

I bought this battery terminal from Jaycar. This allows me to replace the battery grounding cable to the thicker cable (yes one I have is also 2 gauge (35 mm2), about double the thickness) and also route the additional alternator and chassis wire to the battery.

Ive got that too, both positive and negative, havent put it in yet to

Fred, with the left over 2 gauge wire, do you think I should also replace the braided grounding wire?

or just add to it, since electricity follow the path of least resistance

I have Pivot raizin voltage stabiliser on my old work car (20 years old now (not the euro), people at work laughed at it. To me it does help the battery a little as it makes starting a little easier (less drain on the battery, making it last a little longer).

I have Pivot as well, mine has a voltmeter so it tells me the battery and alternator voltage.

[Martin77]

I have Pivot as well, mine has a voltmeter so it tells me the battery and alternator voltage.

The topic of voltage stabiliser is debatable in the auto industry. People at work laughed at my voltage stabiliser. Some may say that it is the grounding that contributed to the improvements rather than the voltage stabiliser.

Pivot Mega Raizin has a relatively small capacitance, 22000 uF which is 0.022 F. Some people say that connecting an audio battery is better because of the larger capacitance (1,3,5F, etc...) and will stabilise the voltage better.

Now (in the last few years), capacitors are getting more advanced. You may know them as super/ultra capacitor. Some people have experimented with some success replacing the car battery with the bigger pack (paralleled with Li ion battery). I am sure these capacitors (including audio capacitors) are not temperature rated to go under the bonnet. I think they either go to 65C or 85C, I cant remember. If you have a subwoofer, you can connect it there as the temperature is lower inside the boot and because it is connected to the battery, will also stabilise the voltage. There may be an issue with the long cables especially if it is not thick enough.

You can buy this unit (link below) from ebay for about $35 and with a box and some soldering, it probably can be used as a voltage stabiliser. When 120 F (2.7 V capacitor) is connected in series (to get the 16.2 V for our car battery (but will only be charged to the voltage it is charged at as the alternator voltage is only about 14.5 V)), we get 20 F total. So for a similar price to Pivot mega raizin, we can have a voltage stabiliser with 20 F instead of 0.022 F (but missing the voltage indicator). This should help the battery a lot more.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6pcs-Fara...wAAOSwTapV6GGc

What are your thoughts? Can you think of other applications?