My son has a 2004 Honda CR-V with 179,000 miles. It was working fine for a month then it wouldn't start at his job. His friend said it was his battery, then he checked it by jumping it and found out it was his alternator. It was taken to the shop where they replaced the alternator and put in the new battery. However, they gave it back with the battery light on but said that the battery was charged with a voltage reading of 14.5 and suggested that it might be the relays. Of course it wend down the next down and towed to his friend's shop who checked the setup of the alternator and replaced one wire then checked the alternator and it failed, so he replaced it three times with Advance Auto alternators and all three failed. His friend thinks it is his multiplex control unit (MCU) and wants to replace it for $400. Can the MCU burn out alternators? Could it be his ECM or the relays like the other shop suggested.
Definitely try an OEM alternator first. A lot of the remanufactured alternators have problems right out of the box. I have seen it many times.
Probably just junk autostore parts. Use OEM parts!
Definitely try OEM and not auto parts store remanned units before gambling with computer parts, especially since it's a Honda. I went through 4 master cylinders a few months ago trying to replace the original one in my '79 Pontiac. 2 were remanned Advance Auto units, one was GM's AC-Delco brand that was brand new and Made in China. the 4th was a brand new Advance Auto unit of all things. Every single one, except the last one had issues with their internal seals and they'd leak fluid from the rear of the piston as soon as I bled them. Seems everybody wants to make terrible crap these days.
