One year and four alternators!!! Are these things really that delecate?? I left my interior lights on the other night so I charged the battery for a little while started the car with the charger. I know about the warnings with "an alternator is not meant to charge, it is meant to maintain"..... but come on.....

I know it is my fault and am glad for the lifetime warranty but this shouldn't happen so quickly. Up North, I used to jump start dead cars in the winter and you never saw the alternators self distruct in a day.

Anybody else with an air pump eliminator kit notice that the alternator is slightly off center to the belt??

 

"Anybody else with an air pump eliminator kit notice that the alternator is slightly off center to the belt?"

yep

 

On the positive side, I bet you are the fastest Alternator Changer guy on the island. Thank goodness for the lifetime warranty!

 

First of all what brand are you buying PLEASE dont tell me Autozone. Next check to see if you have the right one I would find people getting the wrong alt all the time from the parts house. Next I have ALWAYS used original equipment parts when it comes to altenators and starters and have never had any problems.

Then go through and check all your wiring and ground. After all of that and you dont fix it then it's time to break out the meter. I hope this helps.

 

Not autozone but it was advanced auto. This time, I paid $10 and got the AC Delco instead of the Advanced version of a rebuild. After removing the one from the car, i think I found what happened. I have the March pullies and the air pump bypass kit. The bypass kit has the alternator slightly tilted. The march alternator pulley started failing. Lots of aluminium particles under the pulley cap. The socket wouldn't fit on the nut because the pulley had worn down and was now sitting off-center. With all the items slightly off, there was too much torque on the shaft and it looks to be bent. I put the stock pulley back on and took it back to autozone. When he tested, it tested fine but I bitched enough to get them to take it back. They didn't have any of the AC Delcos in stock but will have mine in on Friday morning.

I hope it fixes the problem!

 

Before I opened this thread I knew it was some aftermarket alternator deal...been there done that except I went through 6 in two months.. :eek: ..finally sprung for a genuine OEM...no problems after that...the price difference was a lot greater than your's though...like 99 bucks for the rebuilt crapola vs. 360 bucks for the real thing...btw, this was on a Caddy I had but the lesson was learned.. :thumbs:

 

I've never had a problem with my '64 or '92 Corvette alternators, but I've had plenty of problems with the replacement alternators on my Lincoln TownCar.
The Lincoln is used frequently for long trips. The original alternator didn't go bad, but I replaced it at 100K miles thinking it may go bad soon -- big mistake. I got a "lifetime warranty", inexpensive alternator from PepBoys -- It lasted about three months. To make the story short, I ended up replacing the alternator about twice a year for three years because it was "lifetime warranty."
Then, I called the local Ford dealer parts department and told him the story and asked if he had a "quality" non-lifetime expensive alternator. He said they would have to order one, but suggested I go to NAPA and ask them for a quality alternator that the professional shops would buy -- and said to specifically tell them I didn't want the cheap ones that they sell to compete with Advance Auto, PepBoys, etc.
So, I ended up with a $125, one year warranty quality alternator that hasn't failed in three years and counting.

I would rather have an expensive, one year warranty, alternator that lasts 10 years than a lifetime warranty inexpensive alternator that lets me stranded and has to be replaced twice a year.

I have been hearing that the new "Gold series" alternators from Autozone may be quality, but I don't have personal experience with them.

Tom Piper

 

Only 4? I quit counting after a dozen - well, that is over 14 years, but I went through at least 3 during the basic warranty. GM does seem to have the best quality. I've been back to NAPA at least twice in the same day on one of their remans. Do keep the battery charged, but I've lost plenty of alternators in my other GM products with perfectly good batterys.

 

I went thru this for years
Make sure all of you alternator braces are installed
the best solution for me was a Powermaster 140 amp!
It cost about $160,outright,no core charge.
Im Very pleased ,it has held so far ,no problems,except i had to reclock
the housing position,I really like the extra 35 amps.
I dealt directly with powermaster in Knoxville Tn

Mike :D