A Honda Accord owner got three different answers about why his car wouldn’t start. One store blamed the battery, another pointed to the alternator, and a mechanic couldn’t say for sure what was wrong.
By the time he finished seeking help, he’d bought a replacement battery that was still sitting unused. Meanwhile, his car was starting without any trouble.
The driver turned to Reddit’s r/MechanicAdvice community after visits to two AutoZone locations and an independent mechanic. His car was a 2015 Honda Accord with a 2.4-liter engine.
He eventually bought a voltage meter and reached his own conclusion. But Honda’s charging system made the readings harder to interpret, and he never got a chance to settle the matter.
Three Different Answers
The trouble started when the Accord wouldn’t start after a valet had parked it. The owner jump-started it and drove to AutoZone, where an employee told him the battery was bad.
He bought a replacement at Costco but waited until the next day to install it. His old battery was less than two years old, and the Accord started normally the following morning.
On his way to work, he stopped at a second AutoZone. This employee said the battery was fine, but the alternator had failed. The test also flagged a possible anti-lock brake issue.
An independent mechanic offered a third answer. The battery tested weak, while the alternator appeared to be working. The mechanic couldn’t rule out an intermittent charging problem.
One Reddit commenter suggested the valet might have left the lights on and drained the battery. The owner considered that possible, since the car had started normally after the jump.
Other commenters suggested checking the voltage himself.
The Numbers Change
The owner used a small meter that plugged into the Accord’s cigarette lighter socket. With electrical accessories running, he recorded readings as high as 14.2 volts and as low as 12.3 volts.
He believed the changing readings showed that the alternator was failing. That would have supported AutoZone’s second diagnosis, although it still didn’t explain why the other tests disagreed.
Honda’s charging system offered another possibility. Service information for the 2015 Accord lists target charging voltages between about 12.5 and 14.5 volts. The car can change its alternator output based on electrical demand.
His 12.3-volt reading fell below that range, but the voltage fluctuation alone didn’t prove a bad alternator. Another Reddit commenter later raised the same concern about Honda’s charging system.
By then, the owner had posted a different update. His Accord had been totaled in a crash that morning, though he gave no details about what caused it.
“Bad news – totaled my car this morning with a wreck so i guess i don’t have to fix it lol.”