Hi everyone! I am new to this board and am hoping that someone can help me out. I have a '99 Accord V6 coupe and I just started having a very weird electrical problem. Electrical problems scare me. I am pretty good with mechanical stuff, but lack the electrical knowledge and would really like to stay away from getting hosed at the dealer.
Here's my annoying problem:
When leaving the shopping mall this weekend, I started it up and the following lights lit up and have stayed on ever since whenever the car is running or the ignition is on: the battery symbol, the parking brake indicator (even when the brake is not engaged) both doors and the trunk are open (even though they are not!) and the "brake light out indicator. It is very annoying, especially at night to have these lights continously on. I disconnected the battery for 10 minutes, and when I re-connected it, the problem is still there. The car has 71,000 miles on it.

Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated! I have done virtually all of my own meticulous maintenance on this car and am trying to avoid the dealer at all costs.

Thanks!

 

Anybody??? Please save me from having to go to the stealer!

 

Check your charging system, these are bad about alternators going bad. Do that first.

 

Im 100% sure that your alternator is bad. Replace it!!!

 

Exactly. Mine did the same shit when it went out.

Get a voltmeter and test out your battery charge, especially with a heavily load on the battery - high beams on, full fan speed, radio, etc. if your battery voltage is decreasing, it's time for a new alternator. Mine went at 140k and made a loud whirring noise before it did.

 

Thanks, you guys rock! I forgot to mention that over the past few months that I have also noticed a whirring noise over the past few months leading up to this, so I too am pretty certain that it is the alternator.

Does anyone know how much I can expect to pay for a new alternator? Also, can someone post the steps involved in changing one out?
I will obviously have it tested as you mentioned before replacing it....

THANKS!!!!!!!!!

 

Well, here's how the story ends... I went to Schucks to have the alternator tested. They tested it and said that it was definitely bad. They were about to close so I plopped down $150 on a new one. I then drove a couple blocks to my bank to get some cash at the ATM. I left it running and it died. It would not re-start so I called AAA and had it towed to my house. I pushed it in the garage and got cracking. Two hours later it was in and the car was purring like a cat. All the warning lights went out too. The alternator was a major PITA to get out because everything was so tight. I ended up removing the condenser fan and after that it was a piece of cake. That was the most time consuming part of the job.
Thanks again to 98CoupeV6, mn__30 and 01usjdmr! You guys were right on the money and saved me major time and $$$! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

 

Nice work, glad you got it worked out.

 

lol glad you got it fixed man...I replaced my alternator myself too, it it suuuuch a tight squeeze. The back bolt took me 40 mins to get off because it was so rusted on. And yeah, you are supposed to take the condensor fan off to get it out (I have the Helms V6 supplement). Good call on that.

The whirring noise is because a diode inside the alternator actually breaks and feeds current back into the alternator itself, or at least that's what I've been told. Mine used to get sooo hot...good thing nothing caught on fire. Piece of shit Delphi.