Electrical problems. Does this sound like a short to you?

Hello everyone. I am new to this board. I found it while researching a recent problem that I am having with my 1999 Passport.

Here is my information:

1999 Honda Passport EX
3.2L V6 DOHC
138129 Miles

Here is my problem:

About 3 months ago, I noticed the battery light and the brake light both lit up on the gauge panel. They only stayed on for a short period of time, then they shut off. Ever since then, the battery/brake lights will light up, stay on, and then shut off after about 10-20 minutes and then come back on after another 10 min. I did the worst thing I could possibly do, and ignored the problem. I have also noticed lately that when the battery/brake lights do come on, the dash panel itself also dims, as well as the headlights. It wasn't very noticable until last Saturday night, when the battery/brake lights came on again, only this time my whole electrical system acted like it was shutting down. The headlights dimmed to almost completely off, the radio shut off and came back on, and the engine felt like it was bogging down when i applied the gas. I pulled into a gas station and the truck felt like it wasnt getting enough gas and the engine wasn't idle correctly, so I shut it off. I let it sit for a moment, turned the headlights off, and tried to start it. The truck acted like the battery didn't have enough charge and started clicking. I purchased a can of soda and cleaned the corrosion from the battery terminals and tried to start it again and it made the same clicking noise. I turned the headlights on and they did not appear to be dim, but the truck still wouldn't start. I got a jump and it started fine. Today I went to Advance Auto Parts because i thought it might be the alternator, but the guy tested it and stated that both my battery and alternator were both good. The dash lights didn't come back on until i pulled out of their parking lot. I am thinking it is a short and don't want to take it to the delearship because every garage I have ever been in charges by the hour with no guarantee of repair for electrical work. Is there something else I am overlooking, or does anyone know of a fuse or relay that would cause this irratic problem? If I do take it to the dealership does anyone know if they might be able to pull the codes for something like that or do the dash lights have to be on for the codes to show?

Sorry about the extremely long post, but I am stuck on this problem and I am not looking foward to chasing down a short. If anyone can help me with this problem, I would greatly appreciate any input.

Thanks Again,
Don

If I remember right a battery and brake light mean the alt is on the way out.

be very leary of aftermarket alts.

Is it possible that the alternator could be working on and off? The reason I ask is because the battery/brake lights don't stay on all the time. I was checking it out again this evening and I found the brake/battery warning lights come on/go off whenever the truck hits a bump in the road.They came on when I rocked the truck side to side while it was in park and shut off when I closed the hood. They also came on when I was turning the headlamp switch off and on. Would movement cause the alternator to kick in and out like that? The engine rpms increased when I was rocking the truck from side to side. Would that cause a change in the electrical system causing the dash lights to come on?

Check all your ground connections, from the battery and the alt.

Yep. This is the tell-tale sign of charging system issues. Being intermittant, it's probably not the battery, but a bad alternator. Try a search, but non-OEM alternators dont work will with the 1998+ 3.2L.
G/luck
Joel

I did some looking around for OEM alternators but I ran into a problem. Hondiscountparts.com says that denso is the OEM and RockAuto.com says that hitachi is the OEM. Which one should I purchase?

If I remember right a battery and brake light mean the alt is on the way out.

be very leary of aftermarket alts.

Yeah, it looks like mine is aobut to go out on me again. The one I got from Advance Auto Parts was a remanufactured and has a lifetime waranty, so it will be free to replace it but I think it's still a $70 core charge, and I'm out of money right now. :-(

Yeah, it looks like mine is aobut to go out on me again. The one I got from Advance Auto Parts was a remanufactured and has a lifetime waranty, so it will be free to replace it but I think it's still a $70 core charge, and I'm out of money right now. :-(


You don't have to pay the core charge again if it's warranty. The core charge is only so that when you buy it, they have one to rebuild. When you return the defective alternator, they will take it back and reman it again.

Get the Bosch alternator from Rockauto. It's a bit expensive, but it comes with a 2yr warranty and free roadside assistance - if it's do to the alt, of course.

Definitely sounds like alternator issues, don't waste your time with just any aftermarket ones, they might work ok for a month or two, but the Rodeo's eat 'em for breakfast.

I just went through the alternator business this week. I initially put in a reman unit from Advance and it was no good out of the box. Provided the classic sign of a bad alt in these trucks with the battery and brake lights illuminated. It's not hard to replace the alternator, but it sucks to do the same thing more than once, so I went with a new alternator from NAPA. The counter guy couldn't tell me who makes it. He just said, "It's new from the factory." It's working great so far. $200 + tax. If you have done this before, it literally takes about 5 minutes to remove the alt and a little longer to put it in. The hardest part is monkeying with the electrical connections in a tight space.

Ok, so i've replaced my alternator twice now. Just finished the second one this past wednesday. Was working fine for the first few days then today the battery and brake light came on again so I looked down in there at the alt. and saw that the plastic cap at the base of the bolt for one of the connections was gone and the cable on the bolt was making a bad connection. I tried to tighten the nut down but the bolt just snapped right off. Luckily my dad keeps a ton of various nuts and bolts in our garage so I found one that fit and managed to get it on there. So if anyone is still having this problem after they've replaced their alt, you may want to check that connection. It's kind of hard to get to and there are some hot engine parts in the way, so be careful, I have a small burn mark on my arm but you should be able to get it if your arms are small enough can manipulate your hands well in a small area. I did just have the battery on the charger, so i'm not sure if the problem will continue yet or not. If it does, i'll be sure to repost. Otherwise, assume the best...

P.S.

When changing the alternator, it helps a lot to take off that front pasenger side tire. allows for easy access to the electrical connections!

Everything is going fine with the Alternator now that I have that conenction fastened down better. Next up: O2 sensors....

New problem, don't know if this is tied to the alternator or not, but here's the link to the new thread about it: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=577485