stylett9

So yesterday i was getting my girlfriends 2003 accord coupe v6 serviced for new brake pads.

I've noticed that her alternator has become increasingly louder as time goes and that her TCS light will randomly turn on.

I asked the mechanic to check it out. He calls me back and says that indeed her alternator is going bad and that the reason the TCS light is randomly turning on is because the alternator is unable to regulate the voltage of the vehicle, so as the voltage increases(from high reving or highspeed driving), the TCS light will turn on.

First, does this sound logical? Or is he pulling my leg?

Secondly, he wants to charge 90 for labor, and about 220 for an OEM Honda alternator. Is this pretty fair? Is it a diffcult task? Is there any detailed online DIY's i could follow?

thanks for all help and info!

Accord1234

Just get a battery meter and check the voltage. Then you will know if its putting out the right power.

wellinghurst

Well, the TCS light may be related to that, but probably not-that is common. It is probably either:

1. The brake switch-do that first because it's cheap (didn't fix mine)
2. The ABS module (that's what mine was, but it was under warranty)-$1000.00 part.

MustangLX6.0

Usally if the alternator is not putting out enough voltage all the lights will come on. Like somebody said TCS light is possibly on for a brake light switch. Check the TCS codes first.

thats not a bad price to replace the alt. its not to hard but you have to remove the PS rad fan for clearance and if they are not careful you can put a nice hole in the rad. From what you say I would need to see voltage readings but it does not sound like a alt not putting out, that being said I have seen a few of those V6 accords with alts with bad bearings and are noisey but still operating normally.

vapor40

I have seen this myself a few times, had over 15v at the battery. Can also cause the srs light to come on with no codes stored.

Smitdog

90 dollars in labor to replace the alternator seems very fair. Most likley the shops hourly labor rate. If just the TCS light is coming on I would have a load test done before replacing. If more lights were coming on in the dash that is almost always the Alternator.

Make sure the louder whine noise is not the PS Pump and the TCS lite is not on and off for a clogged EGR issue. Try not to just through parts at it.

esoterEK..

up for some more help!

im going to replace the alternator on one of my friends '04 v6 6speed tomorrow..
is it as easy as b-series motors? do i have to loosen any bolts to release the belt or should it release already by removing the alt? also, anything else i should be looking out for?
any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

MSchu

I've not done a 7th gen, but it really cant be all that much more difficult than any other alt replacement. replace the belt while you're at it

Uncle Ben's

This sounds about right. Back when my 7th gen's battery had a bad cell, a bunch of lights on the cluster lit up, including the ABS light, TCS(not the triangle light), and I believe the SRS came on. $90 for replacing an alternator is pretty cheap. $220 for an oem alternator is pretty cheap as well, I remember looking it up on Alldata, and an alternator for my DSM was $600