2012 Rav4 V6 alternator replacement cost

[JimPghPA]

Good link for APEX. Don't forget about the "big 3". Even for a stock alternator. So many cars with wimpy inadequate wiring. New cars included, even high performance models.

350 amps in a Honda CR-V? Tell us more. Are you running a food truck, a roach coach, or............... (LOL).

About Our Alternators

Important Information If you attempt to run a new high amperage alternator with a stock battery, this could cause voltage drop which will negatively impact the amount of voltage delivered by the al…

apexhighoutputalternators.com

Good link for APEX. Don't forget about the "big 3". Even for a stock alternator. So many cars with wimpy inadequate wiring. New cars included, even high performance models.

350 amps in a Honda CR-V? Tell us more. Are you running a food truck, a roach coach, or............... (LOL).

About Our Alternators

Important Information If you attempt to run a new high amperage alternator with a stock battery, this could cause voltage drop which will negatively impact the amount of voltage delivered by the al…

apexhighoutputalternators.com

I upgraded the vehicles 12 V battery from 51R to 24F.

Had a stereo shop do the big 3 upgrade with 0 GA. Also had them put in a 350 Amp fuse and after the fuse a run of 0 GA. that goes through the firewall behind the glovebox runs unseen by front passengers door and comes out under the back of the front passengers seat terminating with a high current quick connect that I later sprayed Avaition grade Corrosion X on to prevent any degrading of the connections over time and wrapped it in plastic bags.

I bought an extremely reliable very pure 2200 Watt / 4400 Watt peak sine-wave 12 VDC to 120 VAC inverter made by Mean-Well with mating quick connect and 0 GA. wire on the input. Stereo shop added 2 strips of velcro to the bottom of the inverter so it sticks to the floor carpet in front of the back passengers side seat, and a hole with a cover added in that area allows a 12 GA. 100 ft outdoor rated extension cord to come in from under the vehicle.


At idle this system has enough power to run my houses forced air gas furnace (50% on duty cycle on very cold days and 3.5 Amps peak draw), the fridge (about 2 Amps peak during automatic defrost), a few lights (led's) and a TV, for over 45 hours on a full tank of gas. I try to keep it near full in the winter, and make sure it is full before each major snowstorm.

The work by the stereo shop cost me $1000.00 and the high Reliability very pure sinewave inverter that has output damage protection cost around $819.00.

With the battery size upgrade including bigger tray and cover (new) for a 2013 Odyssey (drops in easily), and the alternator, shorter serpentine belt (had to buy 2 the first one I bought was too short to get it to go on the vehicle) the entire upgrade ran me about $2500.00

When I realized that the engine computer will maintain idle even with added loads on the alternator I knew this project would work, and it does.

I know what fuse to remove to disable the vehicle from being able to be driven away when left running, and I have a solar powered remote intrusion alarm (normally used as a driveway intruder alarm) that I set in the vehicle when I'm not in it, and a club lock.

Removing the fuse sets a code, but I can clear that with my blue-driver.

 

[D60]

Yeah as noted the only problem I see is that the 11326 is an inexpensive reman. RA has it as BBB (which I believe is a lot of what O'Reilly sells, too), FVP (yikes!) and Pure Energy.

I mean they may very well all come from the same facility but the fact that FVP chose this to rebadge is .... not great.

For an alternator like that, ie labor intensive, I almost refuse to install the cheap stuff -- or I make it clear to the customer I can't stand behind it if it dies. I don't blame them for the 12/12 warranty stated at bottom of receipt

 

[road_rascal]

That's unusual. How old is the battery?

A week old. I think the alternator wasn't charging the battery even though the warning light on the dash wasn't lit up. I did trickle charge the battery for 48 hours and had it load tested and it was fine.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Car died on the highway about 15 minutes after the dash lights came on. I had 4 miles to go...

I guess I got lucky. I managed to drive the car twice and got away with it not failing and killing on me. I was dropping off some things for the wife at school where she works 8 miles from the house. I parked and left the car running with the A/C on and talked to her by the fence for a good 15 minutes. Got in the car and headed home when I noticed the dash (not charging) light was on. Do not know when or how long it was on. I took off as fast as I could headed for home with hope that I would not end up needing a tow. I made it to the house and parked it. Yesterday I had my nephew follow me to drop off at this little family (friends of wife) owned shop. I can not bend over and do any of that type of work (even simple as that) anymore with my spine issues. Wife told me she taught the mechanic who swapped it out for us. She also taught his son who works there with his dad and she now has the grandson in her pre school class. They are not the owners but the shop has so much business they actually turn lots of jobs away unless they know the potential customers. I dropped car off at 1230 and at 0230pm they were calling to tell me we could pick it up when I went to drive wife home. Since they are 2-3 miles from the school it all worked out great. This is only the 2nd time I have had to pay anyone to work on that car. The other time was when the ECU went bonkers and I had to use Honda dealership to handle that one. The mechanic told me something I never heard before. He said I did not break down because some of those alternators when they start to go do not fail 100% and they are still putting a slight charge out. I am not sure I buy that because I had it running in garage and disconected the battery and it killed instantly which is how I decided the alternator was bad. They did check it before replacing it and the car is running fine now. So????? Not sure what he said about that slight charge stuff. I do have a fairly new battery and I had it on charger for several hours until I drove it to the shop.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Yeah as noted the only problem I see is that the 11326 is an inexpensive reman. RA has it as BBB (which I believe is a lot of what O'Reilly sells, too), FVP (yikes!) and Pure Energy.

I mean they may very well all come from the same facility but the fact that FVP chose this to rebadge is .... not great.

For an alternator like that, ie labor intensive, I almost refuse to install the cheap stuff -- or I make it clear to the customer I can't stand behind it if it dies. I don't blame them for the 12/12 warranty stated at bottom of receipt

Mine from CarQuest and shop says 24/24 warranty at the bottom. They had a new one in stock they wanted almost $700 for so I chose the $325 one with that warranty. I plan to (hand down) give this 2009 Accord to my nephew when we get another vehicle soon. He is a good mechanic (jack of all) who can fix near everything. Only reason he did not do this job for me is he is suffering with his low back last few days. He wanted to but I would not let him as I know about that spine stuff and most times it takes a lot of rest to heal up. I do forget at times he is young and spry and they heal faster than us old birds!

 

[IndyIan]

Car died on the highway about 15 minutes after the dash lights came on. I had 4 miles to go...

I think our 1992 Sentra went a bit further than this, but not much. My old Focus wagon got about the same distance as well. In both cases we replaced the battery as well, as they were quite old at the time, and maybe helped take out the alternator?
My local shop rebuilt alternator in the Focus has been going for maybe 8 years now, and 120k miles in two different cars.

 

[D60]

I think our 1992 Sentra went a bit further than this, but not much. My old Focus wagon got about the same distance as well. In both cases we replaced the battery as well, as they were quite old at the time, and maybe helped take out the alternator?
My local shop rebuilt alternator in the Focus has been going for maybe 8 years now, and 120k miles in two different cars.

Honestly I think in a lot of cases you could just replace the brushes. Maybe the slip rings if they're easy and swap whatever bearings you can while you're in there......and get another 4-5 years out of the alternator no problem.

I've often wondered how long my JL would go with no alternator. I imagine the electric p/s pump pulls a lot of amperage and the electronics HATE low voltage. The dash lights up with every error light and it insists on trying to run the wipers, which only serves to kill a weak battery that much sooner.

 

[Accent Abuser]

Part number 11326, matches up to a cheap $150 reman that they charged you twice as much for

The could've at least used a Denso reman.

Honestly, with Toyota's transverse V6 designs, it wouldn't surprise me if you needed to recharge the AC to replace an alternator.

Here's what it looks like under the hood:

The 2grfe is a bear to work on, took me two days to do a water pump on one.

 

[D60]

Part number 11326, matches up to a cheap $150 reman that they charged you twice as much for

The could've at least used a Denso reman.

Honestly, with Toyota's transverse V6 designs, it wouldn't surprise me if you needed to recharge the AC to replace an alternator.

Here's what it looks like under the hood:

I just watched that vid. For obviously being a home gamer that guy did an excellent, concise job with that vid! He doesn't seem to love the sound of his own voice and just gets it done with clear instruction and visuals.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I tell lots of folks just "stop it!" who have a FIT and WHINE like babies when they find out the cost to have some repair or maintenance work done to their vehicles. I tell them please go onto YouTube and just watch all of the work involved in doing this job that you need done. Now once you see just what the heck the poor hard working mechanic has to deal with maybe you will not feel so bad about the costs involved?
I know I had spoiled many over the years because I used to do all of their brake jobs, suspensions , batteries, starters, water pumps .... etc... and I only charged them the cost of the parts as these were friends and relatives. Actually now a days it appears to me that most of the vehicle manufacturers are making vehicles that are a lot better quality of the ones I used to work on years ago. I noticed that most folks I talk to and even the wife and I do not have nearly the amount of "repair jobs" that one used to have to deal with some years back. I am certain some technicians on BITOG will ask me am I out of my freaking mind LoL! since they are on the front lines these days doing work / repairs every day...... well that is job security but I really think the quality of vehicles today is far and above what they were years back. Used to be almost everyone who kept a car or truck a while ended up needing the A/C system repaired or overhauled and these days I am not hearing many or even (knock on wood) experiencing that with ours.

 

[D60]

I tell lots of folks just "stop it!" who have a FIT and WHINE like babies when they find out the cost to have some repair or maintenance work done to their vehicles. I tell them please go onto YouTube and just watch all of the work involved in doing this job that you need done. Now once you see just what the heck the poor hard working mechanic has to deal with maybe you will not feel so bad about the costs involved?
I know I had spoiled many over the years because I used to do all of their brake jobs, suspensions , batteries, starters, water pumps .... etc... and I only charged them the cost of the parts as these were friends and relatives. Actually now a days it appears to me that most of the vehicle manufacturers are making vehicles that are a lot better quality of the ones I used to work on years ago. I noticed that most folks I talk to and even the wife and I do not have nearly the amount to "repair jobs" that one used to have to deal with some years back. I am certain some technicians on BITOG will ask me am I out of my freaking mind LoL! since they are on the front lines these days doing work / repairs every day...... well that is job security but I really think the quality of vehicles today is far and above what they were years back. Used to be almost everyone who kept a car or truck a while ended up needing the A/C system repaired or overhauled and these days I am not hearing many or even (knock on wood) experiencing that with ours.

Not arguing but I actually feel YT can have the opposite effect. People watch an edited, condensed 10 minute video and think the job is fairly straightforward.

The thing that stands out for me on almost every job is problem-solving ability and all the just-in-case tools (and experience) in a well equipped shop. Things like the blue wrench, drivers, extractors, air hammer, etc

If you're working in a driveway with a basic set of hand tools you're often ok if everything goes perfectly. But one snag can mean four trips to the auto parts store or hardware store for the "let's see if this works" things.

It's difficult to explain to those who don't get it.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Not arguing but I actually feel YT can have the opposite effect. People watch an edited, condensed 10 minute video and think the job is fairly straightforward.

The thing that stands out for me on almost every job is problem-solving ability and all the just-in-case tools (and experience) in a well equipped shop. Things like the blue wrench, drivers, extractors, air hammer, etc

If you're working in a driveway with a basic set of hand tools you're often ok if everything goes perfectly. But one snag can mean four trips to the auto parts store or hardware store for the "let's see if this works" things.

It's difficult to explain to those who don't get it.

I get you. Thing is , those folks I am telling that to ARE NOT ever going to attempt to do those repairs. These are elderly people I know or folks who simply have never been mechanically inclined. I do not expect them to watch and think "oh heck I can do that!" No way. I simply attempt to convey to them .... stop complaining and thinking you are being over charged for everything. I have to remind some of them...............
It cost money to own and operate repair shops or dealerships. It cost money to pay employees. Money for over head, lights, insurance etc... you know what I mean. Lots of folks simply do not take lots of things into account that affect costs of everything. They also do not realize sometimes the hard work someone has to do to accomplish the repairs they need done.

 

[IndyIan]

Not arguing but I actually feel YT can have the opposite effect. People watch an edited, condensed 10 minute video and think the job is fairly straightforward.

The thing that stands out for me on almost every job is problem-solving ability and all the just-in-case tools (and experience) in a well equipped shop. Things like the blue wrench, drivers, extractors, air hammer, etc

If you're working in a driveway with a basic set of hand tools you're often ok if everything goes perfectly. But one snag can mean four trips to the auto parts store or hardware store for the "let's see if this works" things.

It's difficult to explain to those who don't get it.

Yep I get it, experience goes a long way! I almost got snagged on my focus front subframe replacement on the tiny bolt that holds the plate that retains the power steering lines to the rack... Couldn't reach it from the bottom, and its like a 7/32" head and I couldn't figure out what size it was by trying different tiny sockets on 2' of extensions down from the top... Later my mechanic buddy suggested that probably I could've taken the rack off the subframe and left it in the car if I had rotated the engine on its mounts out of the way... Doh!
Starting that tiny bolt on 2' of extensions wasn't the easiest either but the paper in the socket trick held the bolt(that I learned here or on youtube).
Anyways, its done now, and I learned something and saved a bit of money, as I don't really want to pay post covid repair bills for my cars if I can avoid it!
I guess I can't blame lots of businesses for trying pricing at the "see what the market can bear", but for some things, the market has shrunk by one at least.