Alternator rebuild parts? '08 F150

D

D60

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My wife's '08 F150 5.4 has started to exhibit an intermittent battery light. It's always been brief thus far. I managed to catch it yesterday while the light was on and it was charging at 14.0V

This is a common problem on these Fords with aftermarket alternators, but usually it shows up as soon as the replacement unit is installed. Ours has always had a "Remanufactured" sticker on it for as long as we've owned the vehicle-- about 65k miles

I'm reluctant to buy another reman as the battery light problem seems to have become more rampant in the past several years.

If I could source a quality rebuild kit I'd just as soon crack it open and replace the regulator and brushes and maybe bearings.

The problem is the OEM regulator appears to have been discontinued by Ford and all the replacements I'm finding look like cheap aftermarket -- probably the same junk mass rebuilders are using.

I could go used OEM but not sure I trust that either as these don't seem to last THAT long and any '04-08 has fairly high miles by now.

Does anyone have a suggested source for good or decent alternator parts?
 
Here is the link to the online store for a brick and mortar rebuilder located in Canton, OH.

Home - Alternator Starter Rebuild Kits

Kit look UpToolsAbout UsHelpArticlesHI-AMP Alternators ALTERNATOR & STARTER EDUCATIONAL ARTICLES Our goal is to make our site the most educational starting/charging system site on the web. Rebuilderinabox is dedicated to the real American mechanic in the trenches. Please read our Mission...
alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com
 
chemman said:
Here is the link to the online store for a brick and mortar rebuilder located in Canton, OH.

Home - Alternator Starter Rebuild Kits

Kit look UpToolsAbout UsHelpArticlesHI-AMP Alternators ALTERNATOR & STARTER EDUCATIONAL ARTICLES Our goal is to make our site the most educational starting/charging system site on the web. Rebuilderinabox is dedicated to the real American mechanic in the trenches. Please read our Mission...
alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com
Click to expand...
Thank you! I just stumbled upon them, too!

I think I may need to call as they indicate my kit would be a "2 lead" but I've got three wires going into my plug right now. I have an '08 V10 out back with two. But maybe 2 lead refers to something else...
 
I just got a Mean Green alternator for my F-350. Of course the car maintenance gods punished me for all the submarine memes and the belt broke when I was trying to do the 6.0 tensioner tab trick.
 
bdcardinal said:
I just got a Mean Green alternator for my F-350. Of course the car maintenance gods punished me for all the submarine memes and the belt broke when I was trying to do the 6.0 tensioner tab trick.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm trying to go budget (within reason) and I don't need any more output than stock.

Some of these places do offer rebuild upgrade kits up to 200A for the 6G, but it's difficult to justify. We have a modest LED light bar but that's it.
 
D60 said:
Thank you! Quickly running through their site by Make & Model they only give an option of "STARTER" for an '08 F150 but I may call them during business hours, too.
Click to expand...
Ohh, that sucks. They've always had listings for mine, but then again I've just been looking for Honda stuff.

Hopefully they can help you, I know if its listed on their site, they usually give a very comprehensive list of parts...
 
65k miles may just be the brushes/ regulator. Easy swap. On my 01 F150, I put a reman alternator about 80k miles ago. I got a spare because I was worried and it's been on a shelf for like 10 years. That's the way it goes...
 
2strokeNorthstar said:
65k miles may just be the brushes/ regulator. Easy swap. On my 01 F150, I put a reman alternator about 80k miles ago. I got a spare because I was worried and it's been on a shelf for like 10 years. That's the way it goes...
Click to expand...
I dunno when the reman was installed. We bought the truck with ~89k and it was there. I always wondered what prompted the alt to be replaced sometime prior to 89k....

Now we're around ~156k and the reman was fine until the past week or so.
 
D60 said:
I dunno when the reman was installed. We bought the truck with ~89k and it was there. I always wondered what prompted the alt to be replaced sometime prior to 89k....

Now we're around ~156k and the reman was fine until the past week or so.
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Because it's a truck? Seriously, I haven't had a Ford that didn't need an alternator around 100k. Toyotas and Hondas I've had last over 200k.
 
2strokeNorthstar said:
Because it's a truck? Seriously, I haven't had a Ford that didn't need an alternator around 100k. Toyotas and Hondas I've had last over 200k.
Click to expand...

I've had several Fords with alternators that went beyond 200K. None were trucks, though I can't think of any reason that would have anything to do with it.
 
chemman said:
Here is the link to the online store for a brick and mortar rebuilder located in Canton, OH.

Home - Alternator Starter Rebuild Kits

Kit look UpToolsAbout UsHelpArticlesHI-AMP Alternators ALTERNATOR & STARTER EDUCATIONAL ARTICLES Our goal is to make our site the most educational starting/charging system site on the web. Rebuilderinabox is dedicated to the real American mechanic in the trenches. Please read our Mission...
alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com alternatorstarterrebuildkits.com
Click to expand...
Ok I ordered from these guys. Their website is......poor. It specifically says to NOT call if you need help finding a kit for your application but rather to contact them via a non-existent "Contact Us" box.

I was only wanting to ask about the "2-lead" description in the kit's title so I just needed to speak with a real human being.

I did reach them and he said it's 2 leads off the stator, not the number of wires plugging into the regulator. I imagine an experienced alt guy would have known this (that's not me) but I just wanted to have the greatest chance of getting the right parts the FIRST time.

He also said he thinks they had to shut off the Contact Us box due to spammers. I reached them at 330-456-3019.
 
The alternator died in my F-150 about two years ago and I thought about rebuilding it but the parts company websites were less than helpful and it appeared that by the time that I bought all of the parts that might be needed that I would be up to over $200 just for the parts. As far a buying a rebuilt one goes, I found that most of them are junk and they reuse a lot of worn out, used parts in them so they don't last long. I keep looking and eventually good deal on a NEW alternator on Amazon for $150 and I just bought it instead. Here is a post that I made about it at the time and in response to someone else asking about Ford alternators:

YMMV.

I went through the same thing with my 2010 FX-4 this week. The battery light came on Sunday and I didn't get 1/10 of a mile before the truck shutdown. We measured the battery and it read 3.8 volts and an hour later it read 1 volt! I replaced the battery and everything was fine but the battery symbol still showed on the dash and the battery voltage (running) was only 11.8 volts. I charged the battery on an external charger and it charged to about 13 volts but when I started the truck the battery voltage started dropping so clearly the alternator wasn't working. (I had already checked the fusible links). I did come checking and Ford wanted $486 for a alternator (I don't know if that was new or rebuilt). O'Reillys wanted $239 plus $75 for a core charge. I finally ordered this NEW one from Amazon "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF5MC04?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details" (cold link, you'll have to cut and paste). It arrived less than a day and a half and I installed it in about 20 minutes and everything is now working fine. This one only cost $150 for a NEW alternator with no shipping charge and no core charge. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with it.

I used to own eight different collector cars and I spent a LOT of time working on cars and I've learned the hard way that if you value your time at all, then don't buy the "rebuilt" parts at O'Reillys, Discount Auto parts, Pep Boys, etc. At least 80% of them are bad right out of the box and they don't test ANYTHING before selling it to unwary customers.
 
Alternator rebuild shops have to compete on price, especially as alot of them service fleet customers or local repair shops. It's pretty much not economical for them to be using OE parts, let alone trying to keep stock of them. Many of these OE voltage regulators may also be extremely difficult to try and source. IMO, it's a bit of a myth that your local shop does better work than the big corporate shops which may have more purchasing power for sourcing parts and having more consistent QC processes.
 
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