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:angry: So my wonderful 2003 honda odyssey seems to be plagued by electrical issues. I bought the car 1 year ago, it has 168k miles on it, yes i know, anyways about 3 months after i purchased it the battery died. I figured it was just random due to the fact that it sat at the car lot or something. I got a new free battery at napa since it was supposedly still under warranty. so all has been fine until a couple of weeks ago. the battery was dead again one morning, its actually my moms car but, anyways she had it humped and it ran fine, I took it to advanced auto to get the alternator tested and it was bad of course. So i bought a new one and put int in a week ago. I drove the van all week with no problems and then tonight my mom was driving home and called me and said it was dying on her. I met her and every light on the dash was on and the van was barely running. Please not that this was happening with every accessory off including the headlights. I got it home barely and put my multimeter on it while the car was off and it was at 11.6 V. then i had to jump it and with it running it was fluxuating between 8 and 9 volts. So I am questioning either the alternator or the battery. I am going to take the battery out and get it tested tomorrow morning. I find it hard to believe that the new alternator is at fault, but this has never happened before when the car was running. the other times the battery died overnight. I know the odysseys have battery issues, any help or suggestions are appreciated. oh and no my battery terminals arent dirty.
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It sounds like you might be having a problem with a ground wire that is loss or has corrosion. Check the wires next too and around the battery. If you do not see anything there. Then see if there is too much resistance in the wire, use the multi-meter and see if there is excessive voltage on the ground wire.
My thought is that you need to do a parasitic draw test, a draw down test on the starter circuit and test the alternator as well. ERic, I believe, has great videos on each of those subjects.
Sparksthe 8-9 volts while running is the key and tells me the battery isnt being charged by the alternator. should be like 13-15 or whatever. this is not a parasitic draw issue.
you put the alternator in yourself… first recheck your work. all connections at battery and alternator are clean and tight and hooked up right. also, consider belt tension. if the belt doesnt have enuf tension to turn the alternator pully properly it will just slip. i had this problem on my 78 chevy pickup and it affected my power steering too. Looks like u have an automatic tensioner so all you need to do ensure your belt tension is correct is check the tensioner according to a repair manual.
often remanufactured alternators are the cheapest ones at the auto parts store. either way, i have seen “new” alternators be bad out of the box and family and friends who work at auto parts stores attest to this. since some are such a PITA to install, i always ask the store to test them on their machine before i leave the store. ignorant employees who dont know me are sometimes annoyed or dont want to. i’ve seen the truly great auto parts guys do it without being asked.
also, before any more damage is done to that new battery from being discharged, take it out, take it to the auto store and have them recharge it on their charger (this is free and it tests the battery as well). jumping the battery will not fully recharge it even if u leave it hooked to the jumper car for a while (it would have to be a long while). and leaving the batteyr partially discharged will substantially shorten it’s life. 11.6 volts is fully discharged. http://www.pacificpowerbatteries.com/aboutbatts/Car%20Battery%20FAQ/carfaq4.html
keep us posted.
The tensioner is very easy to check:
1) Check the position of the auto-tensioner indicator’s pointer (A) with the engine not running. Start the engine, then check the position of the pointer again. If the position changes, replace the auto-tensioner.
2) Check for abnormal noise from the tensioner. If you hear abnormal noise, replace the auto-tensioner.
3) Remove the belt. Move the auto-tensioner back and forth within its limits with a wrench in the direction shown. Check that the tensioner moves smoothly and without any abnormal noise. If the tensioner does not move smoothly or there is abnormal noise, replace the tensioner.Ok so i know the belt isnt slipping, i just had the belt off when i did the alternator and the tensioner was just liie evry oth e r tsnsioner i have ever pulled back. It isnt slipping because i would think that there would be a chirpig from the belt, but i already checked that while i was on the side of the road with it. I do also think that the alternator is the issue because if the poor voltage while its running. I might just put the honda one back in since i know it works, and take the new one to get benched, and i will take the battery with me as weel to get tested. As for the wiring that is the thing that bothers me the most. The previous owner seemes to havehad a field day with some of the wirig, i mean its all together, but is spliced and climped back together in places. I thought the problem was a loose pos battery terminal because these napa batteries dont have the right size terminals for the cables. Its jut a little bit smaller, but someone put a machine screw in between the terminal and the clamp to take up the space. So ill get the alternator and battery looked at and get back to you, thanks!
[quote=”Durango8766″ post=61781] i mean its all together, but is spliced and climped back together in places. … but someone put a machine screw in between the terminal and the clamp to take up the space[/quote]
NO NO NO NO NO NO
fix those problems first. i guaranfuckingtee your new alternator is fine and the hack wiring plus the god forsaken screw in the terminal is the problem. these both explain car dieing and poor charging as a result of poor connections.now you just told me you know the (presumably original) honda alternator works, but your original post said it was bad (and why would u still have it since they charge you for a core???)
anyway, as it happened, your original alternator (if it was bad) may have just died coincidentally. but more likely it died cuz of poor connections. poor connections dont allow the battery to charge all the time. so when it is charging the alternator is strained, charging a discharged battery (something it’s never actually suppose to do cuz a battery is never suppose to discharge). bad batteries cause bad alternators. bad alternators cause bad batteries. and bad connections cause both.The others are correct. You have to make sure all of the connections are correct,clean and tight but if it was fine for a few days after you replaced the alternator think your replacement alternater is toast. Make sure the battery is fully charged as an alternater is not a battery charger.
Ok, so I checked for a short to ground, didn’t have one. I had battery voltage at the alternator pos lead when the car wasn’t running, and when it was running it was putting out 8.5 volts. So they gave me a new alternator and its running good now, its putting out 14 volts. The spliced wiring is behind the battery box and its like 3 white wires, like 15 gauge maybe. I don’t think that they are for the charging system though. But it looks clean and it looks like it was put back together good. The battery terminal is tight with that screw in it but I’m going to fix it, the problem is that the terminals on the battery are too small for the clamp. And its a new battery so, yeah. I got the battery checked too and it is still good.
it’s pretty easy to put new terminal ends on
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Lynx-Epoxy-top-post-battery-terminal/_/N-25hn?itemIdentifier=95964_0_0_and you’re right, those wires probly dont affect the charging system.
i’m dieing to know tho, did they put the first new alternator on the machine to test it? (not the handheld tester but i mean the big machine that hooks a belt to it and everything.)
Unfortunately no they did not test it, they were really busy, and the guy just wanted me out the door, i must say that the new one is much nicer it just looks like its of better quality. I guess the only other thing i can think of is that the computer is going bad and isnt telling the alternator when to start charging, if this vehicle even works this way. The van is running good so far, i am going to change the pos terminal end tomorrow along with the rear motor mount, timing belt, water pump, oil, tranny fluid, rad hoses, and belts. I am driving it to florida in a week whichis about 2000 miles round trip. So hopefully i wont be on the side of the road. Do you by chance know if the computer tells the alternator when to engage, or is there a separate unit that does so, or does the alternator engage on its own? I think it called the load detector. Thanks for the help!
no, contrary to the belief of ignorant mechanics who cant/dont use diagnostic flow charts, computers almost never go bad and they dont tell the alternator when to charge. the alternator is always supplying current. it’s what runs the car. the battery is just for starting. that’s why when the car is running, you should always be seeing alternator voltage (13.5 to 15 volts or whatever.)
just keep an eye on the battery voltage when the car is off until u leave. 12.6 volts is full. every tenth of a volt matters. under 11.9 volts is actually a discharged battery.
and take voltage readings at the battery while the car is running too to make sure that new alternator is doing it’s job. should see up around 14 volts or whatever.
you know that the timing belt and water pump is a pretty serious operation and requires tools like torque wrenches and maybe pulley pullers and other stuff right? and that it’s designated as an almost 5 hour job for an experienced mechanic in a fully equipped shop?
the radiator hoses on an 03 odyssey probly dont need changing. if ur gonna do em, u might as well replace the coolant (with the correct stuff that is compatible with the coolant that will remain in the block when draining) and properly bleed the cooling system according to a repair manual when refilling.
just curious, what’s wrong with the rear motor mount? if ur going for a long drive, just make no check engine lights are on, give it an oil change first maybe, and make sure ur fluids are topped off and that your coolant looks clean and is a proper 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water (strong preference for distilled water if you’re buying concentrated and mixing it yourself, instead of buying premix which costs more)
Yes, i am going to keep an eye on the voltage. I have a torque wrench, a pulley puller, etc. I have more tools than you think, ive actually changed two engines this year. In my 05 durango and in my 94 regal. Ive done a timingbelt before, but im gonna watch erics v manual just to be sure. The hoses are actually really still by the engine and i suspect they are original. So i figure i may as wall do tbem if im gonna open the system. I have the honda collant for it. The back motor mount i suspect is bad and i hear its common on these, because it has the 5cspeed tranny which suffers from the hard shift into reverse. But every time its in reverse and i back out of my driveway i can hear the bushing in the mount squeeking, and if i put it in park on level ground withiut the oark brake on and rock it back and forth i can replicate the noise and i think there is definately play in it. I use all the honda fluids on it just because they almost cost the same, and i know its rights. Thanks again for the help!
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