My wife’s secondary car is a 2015 Honda CRV, with ~ 194,000 miles on it. She’s become reluctant to drive it far, because she believes/ has been told by someone that she should change out the alternator and the starter motor, before they fail. To date, neither has given any indication of trouble. Thoughts on replacing these two? (She actually does like this car, and somewhat prefers it over her 2021 CRV)
My thought is that, because both the alternator and the starter on this engine are reasonably accessible, replacing them when they actually fail should not be a big deal for a competent mechanic. Ergo–I wouldn’t replace them at this point… unless she is contemplating a long drive through a remote wilderness area.
That being said, at close to 200k miles, it is likely that there will be upcoming transmission issues, and it might not be fiscally-feasible to pay ~$3,500 for a new transmission when the vehicle may only be worth $7k-$8k. In other words, if you pay for pre-emptive starter & alternator replacement, only to be faced with the need for a trans overhaul, you might easily have wasted your money on the starter/alternator repairs.
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Agree, don’t change them. Spend a fraction of that money on a thorough inspection by a trusted mechanic, fix anything that actually needs fixing. Meanwhile, get ready to replace it if necessary.
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… including servicing of both the transmission and the rear differential. The rear diff on this model is very problematic after ~90k miles, and the diff fluid should definitely be changed, using ONLY genuine Honda Dual Pump fluid.
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I you don’t have towing on your vehicle insurance just add it as it is really cheap. I have never had a shop or a dealer want to replace either of those items if they were working.
What qualifications does this ‘someone’ have ?
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My Honda has over 225,000 miles on it.
And the only parts replaced were wearable parts and those at their normal service intervals.
Besides, things like starters and alternators will usually give early signs of a possible problem before complete failure.
I wouldn’t replace them.
Tester
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Another for leave them alone, besides, you might replace them and then have issues with the replacement parts…
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Makes sense, thanks!
got it; thanks!
I’m not sure- she talked to a couple of aerospace engineers she works with.
got it; thank you!
I think there’s probably an “abundance of caution” in aerospace engineering that makes sense in aerospace, but not so much in cars.
The time it would make the most sense is if some major and expensive work had to get done, and that there’s a something-or-other that stands a good chance of being at the end of it’s service life, and that it would be easy to do “while you’re in there.”
Case in point…from learning the hard way. I have a Ford Ranger. Replacing the fuel pump requires removing the bed (or dropping the gas tank), and my bed also has a heavy duty steel ladder rack on it. I had to remove the bed once for I-forget-what, but it wasn’t the fuel pump. Well, at over 200K miles, I recall having the fleeting thought that I should do the fuel pump “while I was in there.” But, you know. I didn’t. And a few months later the bed came back off… (head-smack)
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I did replace my alternator at 170k even though it still worked fine. I only use new delco. In almost 2 million miles and 50 years though I think I’ve only needed two starters. Crank crank crank will cause starter issues. General maintenance is the key but I replace things like belts, hoses, tires, batteries, etc. before failure. Those are the things that generally leave you stranded. But the older the car the more unexpected things fail like tie rod ends.
I’ve gotten to where I proactively replace car batteries when they’re around 4 years old. In my part of the world a car battery only lasts about that long, and there’s never a good time for a battery to die on you. I’ve had several die with no warning signs at all. Batteries are relatively cheap and easy to replace.
We had to replace the alternator on my wife’s Honda Odyssey once. It was giving clear signs of failure, including the warning light on the dash. I think that was around a $700 deal; we opted for the OEM Honda alternator.
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Change the alternator at 240,000 miles and wait for the starter to go all by itself. It may never happen. The worst thing you can do to a car is drive it, but it beats walking everywhere.
Just another thought. Aerospace engineers are probably used to a more stringent quality control system on replacement parts. Not so with car parts that can fail right out of the box or shortly thereafter. So when replacing you always have to allow for a shake down period to make sure they are hardened parts.
Now when I wanted my shop to replace some hoses, he said they have seen more failures with the replacements than the originals for what it’s worth.
Suggest to focus on changing the engine oil & filter, and coolant, on a more frequent schedule than Honda suggests. If you want to replace something, replace the accessory drive belts. Or the battery if it is 4 years or older. And immediately address every instance of a dashboard warning light, especially a check-engine warning light. The starter motor, alternator, and water pump will certainly fail at some point, but all will likely provide some early warning signs:
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Starter motor: slower than normal cranking, or just a click on some start attempts, esp with colder ambient temps
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Alternator: Alternator warning light on dashboard will usually turn on when alternator fails. The battery will likely have enough charge to keep the car running for 15 minutes to an hour or so. Turn off everything you can (safely) that’s electrically powered, and make a bee-line to the nearest shop.
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Water pump: Either a small coolant leak develops, or it starts making unusual noises, grinding sounds. Easy to monitor for unusual sounds idling in the driveway with a mechanic’s stethoscope.
FActs are facts, no getting around them. All the parts in your wife’s Honda are nearly 10 years old. It’s impossible to predict which part will fail next. The only way to achieve new-car reliability is to buy a new car. As a compromise to buying a new car, ask your shop for a yearly inspection report for your Honda, asking them to focus on ordering the work that needs doing by priority. Often called a “general inspection”.
Years ago I had an engineer friend who addressed the “when to replace the alternator” problem by carrying a new alternator in the trunk, along with work clothes and the tools needed to replace it, and that’s what he did, replace the alternator on the side of the freeway.
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Not on a Honda but we had our mechanic’s do a full inspection similar to a PPI on our car with 160,000+ that included testing the starter and alternator as part of a multi-page report that included the minimum output of both that would be allowable. Might as well have the rest of the vehicle checked out.
Why would you not spend $4k to fix a car that will sell for $7k with a new transmission in it? I thought CRVs go a lot more than 200k miles.
Might be worth doing regular fluid drain and fills on the transmission. Aerospace people don’t work with transmissions.
That’s why I stated “might not”.
Everyone has to make his/her own decisions regarding what might make sense in accordance with their personal preferences, their needs, and their budget.
I wouldn’t continue to drive a car with close to 194k miles, as I could afford to get rid of it, but I don’t know–nor do you know–the OP’s circumstances. I was only offering my opinion.