It's not a Ford but a friend of mine is having trouble with a family car. It's 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera with a V6. Back on 7-29-01 he called me up to check out and get him another alternator for the car since I work at Advance Auto. Since I don't mind helping out a friend I got him a remanufactured ALT. and even helped him put it on. Well two days ago he called me to say that he thinks that the replacment ALT I got him was defective. So the next day I had him bring the old one in and I tested it for him on the bench tester and sure enough dead as could be, something like 2 volts output. So no biggie maybe it was just a bad one from the box and it took it the month to finally go completly south. Well, tonight his dad called to say that he thinks the replacement of the replacement is shot as well. He went on to say that with the car at idle the charging light will come on put if you put on some RPM's that the light will go off. Now I know usually an ALT will only put out a percentage of should at idle then by 2000 rpm's the ALT should be putting out max voltage. IMO it is unlikely that he got two defective alternators, as they would have been from different batches, reman'd on different days, probably by a different guy on the assembly line. What I am thinking is that there is another problem somewhere causing this car to eat up the ALT's, but what I don't know. Any ideas? According to my friend and what I seen when I was helping him the battery is in good shape, cables seem ok, and the belt is decent. I am at a loss on this one. Anybody got any ideas?

 

not knocking ur alt that ur store handles but i work 4 a used car store of a new car dealer and i found out that new Delco alts are pretty much junk and most rebuilds are even worse so we use only Delco rebuilt alts and have decent luck with them i suggest ur friend goes with Delco if u can get him 1 JUST my 2 cents and 30 years plus exp but what heck everyone has their point

 

I once got 2 bad starters in a row from the old Nationwise Auto Parts. Like the old saying, 'it happens I'd try a 3rd and then look at other areas of the car if it fails again.

 

That's excatly what I did guys. He came in today and I tested his batt, and his alt. Sure enough the alt was only putting out 11.9 volts and only a peak of 19.7 amps on a 105 amp ALT. I fully refunded his money on the first brand and used the money to put a true Delco reman back on. I belive he is getting a momentary spike or ground in his system which is firing his ALT (probably the regulator in them, as the diodes tested good). We'll see what happens.

 

Not to rattle anyone's cages...I have and do work as a mechanic..The rebuilt alternator's that are no name are junk...

We use only bosch rebuilt alt...

I do not waranty labor on these alt.

I test these right out of the box and 50% failure rate is common.

I will have the parts man always test the starter and alternator right out of the box before I leave the parts house. if the customer insists I use these... You pay for what you get...

 

I buy my remans from Napa and have never had a problem until the last time. I always put them on myself and make sure the battery is fully charged. 3 in a row either did not work from the start or worked for a day and then quit. But the one I have now works great! I think its just the luck of the draw.

 

Well so far so good with the Delco reman. I haven't heard a thing yet. After all I have seen the no name brand ALT's are junk and anything reman. is never as good as new, IMO.

 

Just great, now you tell me. I just put a no name brand(USA Industries) on my truck yesterday. I went to Advance Auto (no knock on the company I like them) and they didn't have it in stock, said they would have to order it. Dude was helpfull and called NAPA and Smythe's. Only Smythe could get one but I had to wait 2 hours. Seeing as I had taken a vacation day to do this I took what I could get.

The ironic thing is that I work for Mitsubishi Electric, we make new alternators and starters. Unfortunately we are not a supplier for the F150, otherwise I would have taken it to work and replaced the regulator and brushes. Although from the sound of it while spinning it by hand the rotor bearings were bad as well.