1996 Honda Passport Electrical/Alternator

Tiny
PANGLEC950
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 HONDA PASSPORT
  • 3.2L
  • V6
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 164,000 MILES
I have a 96 Honda Passport 4x4. I took it to a local shop to get it inspected the other day and when they hooked the computer up to it they noticed my check engine light was on. So, ultimately they cleared the codes so I could drive it around to see if the light would come back on. After driving around a while, the check engine light came back on, so, I took it back to the shop to see what repairs I needed to make to get it inspected. The technician recommended that we clear the codes again but for some reason he wasn't able to do it by the computer. While the computer was still hooked up to my car, he unplugged the battery. That finally cleared the codes and I was advised to ride some more and come back. After about 3 miles down the road the 4-wheel drive, brake and battery light come on and those were the only lights on at this point. Not sure what was going on I pulled over making sure my e-brake was not on and pumping my breaks to make sure they were not sticking. Everything seemed fine, so I started to pull off, but when I did the car would barely go although it sounded like I was giving it a lot of gas. It almost seemed like my 4-wheel drive was engaged. With my make and model, I am able to engage 4-wheel drive up to 55 mph so I checked to make sure I didn't bump it by accident. I didn't. After I made it back to my house I noticed that my battery had depleted quite significantly to right at 6 volts. I had to jump it off to get back to the shop I just left. When I got there they started naming off all these different things that were wrong with my car that 30 mins prior were just fine. To keep this as short as possible, I am thinking this is not an extreme coincidence. Is there anyone out there that can help? I'm not sure if something got fried when he unplugged the battery while the computer was hooked up? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 AT 4:55 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Have an autoparts check battery condition including load test and charging system then find another shop. If the light was on clearing it once was ok but the second time the problem should have been found and fixed.
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 AT 7:03 AM
Tiny
PANGLEC950
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Well, I have narrowed it down to the alternator as I have had both of those checked. I guess what my question would be is this. Could they have caused something to short out the alternator when they unhooked the battery cables while the computer was hooked up?
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 AT 7:21 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
It cold have but your car has almost 200k on it and is 18 yrs old so that may have an effect on it as well.
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 AT 7:28 AM
Tiny
PANGLEC950
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I understand my car is old and there are 16X, XXX miles. But prior to taking my car in for an inspection there was absolutely nothing wrong with it besides the check engine light. And the codes for that are just for an egr. This is not as likely a coincidence.
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 AT 7:59 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Well that is for you to decide about the ony way it ocud have damaged the alternator is if it were running and the cable end hit the engine or some body part. If he car was not running u t only the computer hooked up or scanner that he was using probably is not a reason the alternator failed. As there are other things that can cause this like a weak battery, No t having seen this done to this particular car nor actually been there I can really give no suggestion on this failure.
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 AT 9:17 AM

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