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Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?


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xoxo222
New User

Dec 15, 2016, 12:21 AM

Post #1 of 6 (1601 views)
  post locked   Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

Hello, I do not know much about cars. I took my car to a mechanic because the alternator went bad. The battery was very low by the time I got it to the mechanic, it barely made it there. I also noticed occasionally that the car would move forward a little when turning the ignition. He checked under the hood and said that I needed new engine mounts. We decided that after he replaced the alternator he would check the car to make sure the transmission and everything else was running smoothly. I have never noticed obvious shifting problems while driving the car though, I log many miles on the car driving across many cities so I know I would notice if my car was shifting that obviously.

When the alternator was repaired, he called to inform me that my transmission was bad. I went to pick up my car and now it is shifting harshly very often and when I got it home I couldn't even drive it up the hill into my garage. I felt suspicious of why my transmission would be so obviously defective now. However, I do not want to jump to conclusions. My question is, is it possible that driving on low battery due to the failed alternator exacerbated an existing problem in the transmission or damaged it? Thank you.


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Dec 15, 2016, 1:54 AM

Post #2 of 6 (1587 views)
  post locked   Re: Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

Would you please start off with what this is? Make,model year, engine size and type, transmission type, miles at least,


T



(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Dec 15, 2016, 1:56 AM)


xoxo222
New User

Dec 15, 2016, 1:59 AM

Post #3 of 6 (1581 views)
  post locked   Re: Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

Yes, sorry. It is a 2006 Honda Odyssey, Automatic transmission, approximately 130k.

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kev2
Veteran
kev2 profile image

Dec 15, 2016, 8:17 AM

Post #4 of 6 (1568 views)
  post locked   Re: Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

What are the codes? A simple place to start.


Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Dec 15, 2016, 11:10 AM

Post #5 of 6 (1550 views)
  post locked   Re: Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

That is an interesting question. When you think about it as electrical system voltage starts to get to low, electronics start acting weird. You'll notice odd things such as lights flashing, relays chattering, unusual operation of controller outputs.

If the transmission's line pressure is controlled with a force motor, it could be possible the line pressure drops due to the controller not operating the transmission properly. Most of the time if a force motor has no power, the line pressure is going to be high and it will default to some gear. If line pressure drops because the controller is behaving erratically from low system voltage you could have slipping on clutches. If the transmission has lots of mileage on it, that might be the nail in its coffin. Of course, this is all theory.

You won't really know what happened till you actually figured out what the failure is.





Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.


gsferraro
Veteran

Dec 15, 2016, 3:17 PM

Post #6 of 6 (1529 views)
  post locked   Re: Can driving on low battery due to a bad alternator cause transmission problems?  

Hello,
Low battery voltage can absolutely cause transmission problems, some of these solenoids need 12 volts to work correctly. Gary






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