Rebuilt alternators

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Jun 25, 2004 | 05:27 AM

COramprat

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From: Louisiana

Rebuilt alternators

I'm wondering if anyone has ever had their alternator rebuilt at an alternator shop. Mine went out about 7 or 8 months ago and I removed it, brought it to a shop, where the replaced the electrical parts. Worked fine until my wife was on her way home from he mother's until, you guessed it, it went out an hour from home, in the rain and it was night. All worse case scenario's. SO I left work early to go pick her up...cussing the whole time because I don't believe the quality of the repair is up to snuff.

Have any or you had any experience with rebuilds? Not the remanufactures you get from Auto Zone and such but an actual shop the rebuilds them? I have a 1 year warrenty on the thing but if this just goes out again after 8 months I may as well just buy a new one.

Also does anyone know what parts they replace? Do they make a difference on each alternator or is it generic for all? I'm curious if they have different replacement parts for say a 130 amp alternator compared to 160 amp. My desire is to find out if maybe they used the wrong or inferior parts.

Thanks...

Jun 25, 2004 | 07:35 AM

Glock 19

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I've never had one rebuilt at a shop, but I have bought reman ones thru Autozone etc. I've never had good luck with the remans. They always seemed to die sooner then the new one did. I went through about 5 on my Beretta until I finally bought a new one. Never had a problem after that.

When you buy one look for one with a lifetime warranty. Most of the one's Autozone carries come with one, even the remans. The next time it dies, at least it will be free. The 5 I went thru on my Beretta were all free, it was just the inconvience of having to replace them every year.

Glock

Jun 25, 2004 | 09:36 AM

COramprat

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From: Louisiana

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glock 19

I know what you mean...I'ts the reason I don't buy the cheap break pads with a lifetime warrenty...sure you can get them replaced free but who whats to replace brake pads every 6 months?

I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience?

I'm sitting here contemplating buying a new alt and taking the old one back to the repair shop to see if I can get some of my money back. I have to drive an hour just to get to my truck and it raining like hell so it's not something I look forward to. Plus I have to work at 130P....ARgh...I hope Circuit City doesn't mind my truck being out there a few days.

Jun 25, 2004 | 07:27 PM

HomerWinzlow

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From: Lawton, Oklahoma

Even the ones you get from the dealer are remanufactured. It just depends on the quality of the repair, the parts used, and how extensive their rebuilding procedures are. Used to be a time they went thru extensive rebuilding to a like new condition, but with high competition from foreign lands, today Im afraid many aftermarket ones only replace one bad part, clean it up and box it. They may not even test them thoroughly. One reason I recommend Ford is that you not only get a parts warranty, but also a labor warranty. When they have to put the labor part on the line they tend to seek out better quality rebuilds. But on the other hand the warranty is only for one year. However either they have a real good longevity record or the people trade off their vehicles before they go bad again, because I rarely ever see a vehicle come in for a second replacement from the same owner. I think most companies bank on you selling off the vehicle before thier parts break a second time. Kind of a law of averages.

From the grapevine in our parts source, Ford is starting to replace under warranty again with new parts.

Last edited by HomerWinzlow; Jun 25, 2004 at 07:29 PM.

Jun 25, 2004 | 08:33 PM

COramprat

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From: Louisiana

I guess my best bet is to go ahead and buy it new. I don't trust the remans anymore. I guess the thought of my wife stuck out in the middle of nowhere will do that. She was lucky she was close to an interstate exit with a large shopping area. Another 10 minutes and she would have been a long way from any exits on this particular stretch. Now to figure out a way to recoup some of my money I spent getting it rebuilt.

Jun 25, 2004 | 10:01 PM

High_Horse

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From: Orlando, Fla

Definately buy a new one, it only takes about 15 minutes to replace. Everything up front and only a couple bolts holding it. I burned mine up using a power inverter, was a piece cake to do.