Ahaa!
Saw a jasper semi while out cruising with the wife a few weeks ago. I yelled Jasper never again as we passed it and just shook my head. Lol
This is why we don't buy Alternators at O'Reillys...
- Thread starter Oro_O
- Start date
Ahaa!
Saw a jasper semi while out cruising with the wife a few weeks ago. I yelled Jasper never again as we passed it and just shook my head. Lol
Thankfully there is still a 3rd generation family owned and operated starter and alternator shop near me that does it right.
I bought a NEW not a rebuilt alternator for my Mazda3 over a year ago from Autozone and it's been fine. After some reading online it seems to me that a new alternator (even though it's Chinese) would likely be more reliable than a "rebuilt" one.
I think I killed my original alternator by running with a dead battery too long, won't do that again.
I think I killed my original alternator by running with a dead battery too long, won't do that again.
It's why I buy OEM for things like that. Actual basic level of quality expected.
I had a horrible experience. Alternator lasted a few months, left me stranded with no shoes on. Tried to exchange it under “warranty” they denied that they had any history of my purchase. Arguing was not worth my time after a few days and decided never to use them again.
I'm pretty sure that I have done that too.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2021
- Messages
- 59
It's probably a good thing actually. 150,000 OEM bearing are better than todays new Chineseum bearings.
I also just go to the boneyard and get a used OEM. The odds are better than the box store garbage.
Anyone want to talk about box store GM HEI ignition control modules?
My alternator went out at about 360,000km last year in my 93 Tercel. Luckily, I was able to take it to a family owned repair shop and they did a high quality rebuild in less than a business day.
Tercel parts are finally starting to get scarce and/or expensive, due to being discontinued for over 20 years. The distributor also died last year and I discovered Toyota doesn’t make them anymore. The only option was a Cardone rebuild so I found a junkyard one and had it shipped to me. It resurrected the old beast once again and it’s actually been peppier than it has been for years - the old one must have been marginal for years.
Tercel parts are finally starting to get scarce and/or expensive, due to being discontinued for over 20 years. The distributor also died last year and I discovered Toyota doesn’t make them anymore. The only option was a Cardone rebuild so I found a junkyard one and had it shipped to me. It resurrected the old beast once again and it’s actually been peppier than it has been for years - the old one must have been marginal for years.
I submit that most alternators dont die naturally, they are murdered by overtightened belts, old batteries that are near the end of their own natural lifespan, very frequent short trips that never fully recharge otherwise good batteries, and corroded or loose cable connections.
Went through this argument with my brother. He went through multiple parts store reman alternators on his older Honda over the course of a couple months, loudly claiming they were all junk anymore. Meanwhile the four year old battery sitting there untouched since the day it was installed had enough corrosion inside the crimps and on the rusty cable connections that you could barely even see the clamp bolts. Told him to replace the battery because its near death itself, and replace those horrible cables and clean up the various ground connections and his problems with replacing cheap alternators would disappear. Argue argue argue, round and round. Finally got him to shuddup already and just spend the $120 to replace the cables and old battery and whoa suddenly he stopped having problems with junk reman'd alternators.....
The last reman I bought a couple years ago at Autozone, for my dads Toyota, when they guy handed it to me he said "If you need a warranty replacement for this, you'll need to show a reciept for a new battery as well unless the one in there now is less than two years old." The paperwork inside the alternator box said the same thing. I had already just bought the new battery, and I spent some time cleaning up the cable terminals and checking the crimps and whatever grounds I could find. Its been in there a couple years now, still being driven frequently, no problems...
Went through this argument with my brother. He went through multiple parts store reman alternators on his older Honda over the course of a couple months, loudly claiming they were all junk anymore. Meanwhile the four year old battery sitting there untouched since the day it was installed had enough corrosion inside the crimps and on the rusty cable connections that you could barely even see the clamp bolts. Told him to replace the battery because its near death itself, and replace those horrible cables and clean up the various ground connections and his problems with replacing cheap alternators would disappear. Argue argue argue, round and round. Finally got him to shuddup already and just spend the $120 to replace the cables and old battery and whoa suddenly he stopped having problems with junk reman'd alternators.....
The last reman I bought a couple years ago at Autozone, for my dads Toyota, when they guy handed it to me he said "If you need a warranty replacement for this, you'll need to show a reciept for a new battery as well unless the one in there now is less than two years old." The paperwork inside the alternator box said the same thing. I had already just bought the new battery, and I spent some time cleaning up the cable terminals and checking the crimps and whatever grounds I could find. Its been in there a couple years now, still being driven frequently, no problems...
Similar threads
