Hey all,

I own a 2004 Accord. Battery light came on so I started up the car and put a multimeter on my battery. At idle, it showed 12.8 volts. Although I've changed alternators before, I just didn't have the time so I decided to take it down to Firestone about 7 mins away. My wife gets a call from the mechanic saying that because I drove the car down there the battery is dead. Now, the battery was holding a charge prior to me bringing it down and they were able to drive it into the shop so something is fishy.
I couldn't find anything about an alternator destroying a battery by driving it. It just would not charge or drain it..and they wasn't the case.
What do you guys suspect is going on?

Thx in advance.

 

Yes. Check the power steering pump and see if it is leaking, because if it leaks, then fluids drop directly on the Alternator. Had the same issue, but I replaced it with one from the junk.

 

Nope. Altinator was dry. After I posted this I got more details. He said when he brought the car into the garage, it smelled like it was cooked and it felt hot. Now, I dropped it off before they opened. I had the hood open prior to driving it there. At no point did I smell anything. If it fried, it either happened with the 10 min drive three or when they brought it into the garage but again, I never smelled a thing. He didn't go into details on what might have failed, he did blame high amps, something I hadn't checked but he said this issue was common with Honda's and Accuras. When I searched for this I didn't find anything Additionally, this was a Honda brand Altinator and one would think that there would be something in the circuity that would prevent high amps that would fry a battery, like, you know, a fuse. It just doesn't seem right