Originally Posted by BrewDay09

Are you sure you're not thinking of the starter brushes? There are 4 of them and I agree they are difficult to keep in place while inserting the rotor.

The alternator only has one brush and I don't recall that being much trouble.

Here is Soviet's excellent video:

Originally Posted by joelzeller

Hey all, just wanted to ask for some opinions on what I should do with my "on the way out" alternator.

I assume it is original to the 2002 car with about 130k miles/~18 years, so it's getting up there in age and use..

For the last few thousand miles the gauge cluster lights have been flickering at idle and at low RPM driving. I can also hear a bearing noise from the engine bay at idle and low speeds. I am almost certain it is the alternator as the bearing noise gets louder when I turn on the headlights and quieter when I turn them off, loading and unloading the alternator. The noise if gone when I run it without the belt for a short time.

I already changed the tensioner and idler pulley bearings last year with new SKF bearings last year, they were very rough when I took them off.

So I now need to decide what to do:
1. Rebuild current alternator with new bearings + rectifier -> ~$50 in bearings + ~$215 rectifier = ~$265

• Front bearing = 31114-PT0-013
• Rear bearing = 31111-PT0-003
• Rectifier = 31127-PCX-J01

2. Buy used alternator from ebay/s2ki/etc. -> $???
3. Buy Reman alternator from Honda -> 06311-PCX-505RM = ~$425
4. Buy new alternator from Honda -> 31100-PCX-J02 = ~$1050.... Yeah right...

Has anyone done any of the above? What was your experience when you needed a new alternator? 1&2 seem like the most attractive options.

Thanks! -JZ