So my worst nightmare tonight...got stranded in the middle of podunk alone in freezing temps at night. Reason? ****ing rebuilt alternator I personally put on myself...conked out 500 miles from home. Luckily only 30 mi from destination. And roadside assistance and buddy.

I only had it but 45-50000 miles. When I got the car, guy claimed he changed it to. So that's 3 alternators dead in 217,000 miles. Unacceptable. Why? A/C compressor works great. I used to have issues with those on other cars all the time. But this alternator stuff sucks!


I was gonna post thread about strange blinking lights, but its just another alternator thread.

 

Changed mine at 260,000 miles which was original oem that came with the car.

 

Enough said.

 

yup +1

 

Got 200k from my OE.

 

Got 190,000 KM's from both my OEM alternator and starter. When my OEM alternator failed it seized up and broke the belt. Which in turn overheated the motor and cracked the Rad. Really wish it would have been possible to safely pull over and shut the car of right away. But instead had to drive through two sets of lights before I could find a safe place to stop and leave my car overnight.

 

If you change the belt yourself perhaps you are putting too much tension on it or If you are getting rebuilt Alternators then 50k is pretty good lol. Hell, to have them work at all is good. If you cheap out on parts, expect cheap results

 

I know for a fact these altenators are damn near bulletproof if your car is proper maintained....

 

Although I put it on myself, I did it by the book (or per the instructions on this site). The belt squealed when I first put it up, and I only tightened it until it stopped squealing...so I'm pretty sure it wasn't too tight. I also did the flex test seeing how much the belt could bend, and it had plenty of bend to it.

I had a little faith in advanced auto rebuilt alternator. They said everything was new except the casing. But new with Chinese parts? I have a warranty on it that's gonna pay for me a new one, but only store around here in Napa. I normally don't cheap out on parts and I know better, but at the time I had to work with what I had.

Does it matter which remans it is? I see Bosch and Beck Arnley make remanufactured parts. But they also make new ones which aren't much more. Should I get a Napa new, or Bosch remanufactured (I hate that word, reminds me of a trailer park. And we all know what happens to those in Florida lol)?

 

I have on a reman OEM alternator from when original gave out and I am past 50K miles on it and 5 years later with no issues. Paid the same price as an AZ alternator from the dealer. Money well spent...

 

I do admit I drive a whole lot. But, when I have 2 problems more than once...that's an issue. Nothing else has broken. Things got even CRAZIER today. And this is why I don't like auto repair shops. They turn simple things into a and get mad at me when I keep bringing it back and complain.

My car has been sitting for 2 days now. They take it in, and sell me a battery thinking that's the issue. Saying the battery I have now is lower in voltage/amps/whatever it's called than what the car calls for. I bought it, but soon as I drove it off...battery and brake light comes on. What does that mean everyone? ALTERNATOR/CHARGING ISSUE! I told them that already. I know what the car means when it does these things. If it was the battery, I wouldn't of gotten stranded in the midst of nowhere while the car is running.

I take it right back, they retest it, and sure enough it's the alternator. I tried not to give the guy a hard time, because it may be true it was giving a false amp rating when they tested it...but still. The instrument panel doesn't lie. Only reason I can't do it myself is because there's a foot a snow, and no garage where I am stuck at right now.

 

I got my car with 75k, it did go through the alternator recall, it had 184k when I got rid of it and never had to change the alt. With electronics, poor grounds or electrical connections cause high resistance and heat which kills electrical components. More than likely the diodes or regulator goes out.