Hello! I'm a student on my first year of college, and I have an 2009 RDX with 147k miles. I'm not a mechanical expert, but my dad worked on cars for a while so I take his advise when it comes to stuff like this. I've been experiencing electrical/starter problems for the past week or so, let me explain:
A few weeks ago, I tried starting the car, but when I turned the ignition, my dash and speed dials flickered and gave out, and the car wouldn't start. I figured it was because I left a light on or something and my battery died, so I charged it, and the next time I tried starting my car, it worked. I called my dad and told him about it, and and he told me to do a simple multi-meter test to see the battery's output, to see if it will happen again. I did and it was around 11.3v with the engine off, and 12.7v with the engine running. He said this was a problem, and after a quick google search (LMGTFY) I confirmed it was an issue. The battery is less than a year old (installed on July 2018) so we made the call to get a new alternator from DB Electrical (Manufacturer Part Number: AND0485), and while we were at it, we decided to get a new Dayco drive belt, since we would be needing to take the old drive belt off anyways.
After installing the new alternator and drive belt, then taking a drive around the block, the battery output still stayed at around 11v with the engine off, and 12-13 with the engine running (but the car hasn't failed to start again). We decided to have professionals look at it, we got the battery tested at Walmart (it's where we bought the battery and we have a warranty if it is broken), and they said it was fine, then we tested both the new alternator and the battery at our local repair shop, and they said both parts were working (my dad did this without me so I don't know the details but he said that when the alternator was tested, it output 14v). The shop did recommend a new starter, and they said something like "the starter is using too many volts because it's worn, so it may be causing the problem", which sounds like them trying to make money, but it's an old car, and i'm going to need it to be reliable for college, so we shelled out the money to get it replaced anyways.
So after spending $650+ on parts and labor, the battery still outputs low voltage when tested.
the battery output still stayed at around 11v with the engine off, and 12-13 with the engine running
I've been looking around the internet throughout this whole process and looking for other solutions to the problem, but almost every website just recommends getting a new battery/alternator, both of which apparently were working in my car, can anyone give me suggestions? Thanks in advance :)
Other Info:
-There has never been a warning or indicator light on the dash throughout this whole process.
-Alternator and starter are both less than a week old, less than 50 miles driven on them.
-Battery is less than a year old, 3-4k miles on it.
-Old drive belt shows no sign of uneven wear (idk if this is relevant).
-Car has only failed to start once, everything we've done is in hopes to prevent it from failing to start again, we didn't know for a fact if anything was broken when we replaced parts, but better safe then sorry right?
A few weeks ago, I tried starting the car, but when I turned the ignition, my dash and speed dials flickered and gave out, and the car wouldn't start. I figured it was because I left a light on or something and my battery died, so I charged it, and the next time I tried starting my car, it worked. I called my dad and told him about it, and and he told me to do a simple multi-meter test to see the battery's output, to see if it will happen again. I did and it was around 11.3v with the engine off, and 12.7v with the engine running. He said this was a problem, and after a quick google search (LMGTFY) I confirmed it was an issue. The battery is less than a year old (installed on July 2018) so we made the call to get a new alternator from DB Electrical (Manufacturer Part Number: AND0485), and while we were at it, we decided to get a new Dayco drive belt, since we would be needing to take the old drive belt off anyways.
After installing the new alternator and drive belt, then taking a drive around the block, the battery output still stayed at around 11v with the engine off, and 12-13 with the engine running (but the car hasn't failed to start again). We decided to have professionals look at it, we got the battery tested at Walmart (it's where we bought the battery and we have a warranty if it is broken), and they said it was fine, then we tested both the new alternator and the battery at our local repair shop, and they said both parts were working (my dad did this without me so I don't know the details but he said that when the alternator was tested, it output 14v). The shop did recommend a new starter, and they said something like "the starter is using too many volts because it's worn, so it may be causing the problem", which sounds like them trying to make money, but it's an old car, and i'm going to need it to be reliable for college, so we shelled out the money to get it replaced anyways.
So after spending $650+ on parts and labor, the battery still outputs low voltage when tested.
the battery output still stayed at around 11v with the engine off, and 12-13 with the engine running
Other Info:
-There has never been a warning or indicator light on the dash throughout this whole process.
-Alternator and starter are both less than a week old, less than 50 miles driven on them.
-Battery is less than a year old, 3-4k miles on it.
-Old drive belt shows no sign of uneven wear (idk if this is relevant).
-Car has only failed to start once, everything we've done is in hopes to prevent it from failing to start again, we didn't know for a fact if anything was broken when we replaced parts, but better safe then sorry right?