Rebuilt Alternator?

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skate1968

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Dec 28, 2005
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Philadelphia
We've had a shop rebuild my alternator twice and i'm still having problems. The battery/electric warning light now will go off when the car is idling. The light will then go right off after i step on the gas.

The rebuild guys said that the replaced the voltage regulator during the second 'rebuild.'

Anyone have any experience with this? And advice?

thanks

I'm now going to my mechanic to seek his help.

I drive an oil burning 91 civic DX, stock, D1.5, manual.
 
take a multimeter and check the voltage at idle and then at 1.5 or 2 k rpm,
I think your grounds are dirty, loosen clean and tighten all grounds, not sure about your model and year but a haynes manual or civic boards/googl might yield the answer on where the grounds are.
you could try adding additional grounds, battery to body, alternator to block/body.
check your current wire for corrosion.
how old is your battery? do you have large powerdrain like stereo/tv etc in the car? hid lights?
 
when it comes to charging circuit on a car, typically, 3 things you have to look into/watchout for:

(a) alternator

(b) bad/weak/worn out battery that would refuse to take on a charge

(c) bad wiring/grounding issues.

If the alternator has been properly rebuilt to specifications and yet you are still experiencing charging issues, check (b) and (c) before you proceed to getting another alternator.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied.

Originally Posted By: stockrex
take a multimeter and check the voltage at idle and then at 1.5 or 2 k rpm,
I think your grounds are dirty, loosen clean and tighten all grounds, not sure about your model and year but a haynes manual or civic boards/googl might yield the answer on where the grounds are.
you could try adding additional grounds, battery to body, alternator to block/body.
check your current wire for corrosion.


Originally Posted By: Quest

...If the alternator has been properly rebuilt to specifications and yet you are still experiencing charging issues, check (b) [battery] and (c) [wiring/grounding] before you proceed to getting another alternator.


Originally Posted By: daves66nova
loose fan belt? worn out tensioner?


I'm fairly certain that my mechanic already did all of that and or checked all of that. He also tested all the fuses

Originally Posted By: stockrex
how old is your battery?


The battery is fairly new.

Originally Posted By: stockrex
do you have large powerdrain like stereo/tv etc in the car? hid lights?


No.


My mechanic said i should be OK driving it over the weekend. We'll tackle it again on Monday. He said that we may return the alternator for a cash refund then get another one elsewhere.

I guess my real question is how could they have possibly failed to do a proper rebuild twice!
 
It's really odd because the battery/warning light only goes off at idle. And i can prevent the battery from ever going off simply by depressing the accelerator pedal slightly when idling.
 
Originally Posted By: skate1968
The battery/electric warning light now will go off when the car is idling. The light will then go right off after i step on the gas.


I'm confused. You say the light is off when idling, and when opening the throttle. When is it on?
 
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Originally Posted By: zrxkawboy
Originally Posted By: skate1968
The battery/electric warning light now will go off when the car is idling. The light will then go right off after i step on the gas.


I'm confused. You say the light is off when idling, and when opening the throttle. When is it on?


I'm sorry i am not being clear.

The light will now go ON when the car is idling. The light will then go right off after i step on the gas.

I had previously written up that ON/Off sceanrio completely backwards. Sorry about that.
 
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Why did you even have the thing rebuilt? You could have gotten a good remanufactured one from Autozone or someplace similiar that would have anywhere from a 1yr to a lifetime warranty and be better off.
 
The AutoZone rebuilt alternator in our Windstar has voltage fluctuations while running...you can see the lights flicker at times when driving at night. And it was the "premium" rebuild.

An O'Rileys cheap-o rebuild alternator in our old Saturn was still going strong at 50k miles.

I had great results when I let a local shop rebuild an alternator on a older Taurus SHO. If I still lived close enough to a shop like that I'd go the same route.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Why did you even have the thing rebuilt? You could have gotten a good remanufactured one from Autozone or someplace similiar that would have anywhere from a 1yr to a lifetime warranty and be better off.


Yes, hindsight is 20/20.

The rebuild shop did a good job with my starter. And at my mechanic's reccomendation i used them to rebuild the alternator.

Needless to say i now regret using them.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
If the light is off when idling, how can it then go off at raised RPMs? Being off is good and normal, by the way.


I'm sorry, mechtech2, i wrote this up all backwards. Originally I meant to say that the battery/warning light went ON at idle. See the post i made above to zrxkawboy.
 
UPDATE:

Last night my car broke down on. The battery/warning light came on and stayed on. The engine died while i was driving it.

This is, i believe, a case of me trying to save a buck by trying to get away with a cheap alternative to a Honda Dealership part. Big mistake on my part.
 
Starters/alternators/ac compressors are generally a better bet if purchased from the original manufacturer thru dealer as opposed to chain store rebuilts.
 
Originally Posted By: skate1968
UPDATE:

Last night my car broke down on. The battery/warning light came on and stayed on. The engine died while i was driving it.


How long was the battery/warning light on before the engine died?
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: skate1968
UPDATE:

Last night my car broke down on. The battery/warning light came on and stayed on. The engine died while i was driving it.


How long was the battery/warning light on before the engine died?


It could not have been on for all that long. In fact i did not even notice the light being on steadily until i broke down.

I was watching it closely during the day -- it was just on briefly. Then I took a few short local trips that evening -- not paying close attention (silly of me). The next thing i knew i was broke down.
 
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This could be a battery problem. A fairly new battery can still have a problem such as a shorted cell that killed the alternator. Suggest taking the battery to Advance Auto (if there's one near you) who can test it with their Midtronics Incharge diagnostic charger/tester.
 
My mechanic suggested that i take another chance. This time he suggested an alternator from the junkyard. I picked it up for 40 dollars. My mechanic installed it, and as far as i can tell, it works perfectly, thus far.

So comparing the junkyard price of 40$ vs dealer price of 268$ it sounds like the junkyard part will pay off if it lasts a few years. And that's accounting for my mechanic's labor costs which are very reasonable.
 
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