are rebuilt alternators good?

[joekingcorvette]

Thanks for all the responses I apologize for the late response. I am going with a rebuilt one from Advance Auto parts. I am keeping the core. I am pretty sure it is the alternator because I put a new serpentine belt and air conditioner belt on a couple months ago. The alternator is easily accessible and I am quite sure that is where the noise is coming from. I might get the original alternator rebuilt locally and just keep it. Hopefully this is the problem.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Update: I took a bottle of water and squirted it on the belt tensioner and it quit making noise. Then it started making noise again after about 15 seconds so I sprayed the tensioner again around the pulley part where the belt spins around. To make a long story short the problem was not the alternator but the tensioner and/or bearing. I thought I would replace the whole thing and it fixed the problem. Thanks again everyone for all the replies and good advice. If my alternator ever goes you guys talked me into repairing the original which only has 70,600 or so miles on it.

 

[partspro]

I just bought an alternator. I read a good bit. My overall conclusion is rebuilt alternators are crap unless they're OEM rebuilt/refurbished/reconditoned whatever. Those are considered on par with a decent brand new alternator (not the dirt cheap 'new' alternators). I ended up going with an AAP Carquest new unit. They seem to have a better reputation than other store brands.

I used to work at advanced auto, and remember the exception, sold a customer rebuilt alternator... it failed after a few days, replaced it with brand new no cost..... it also failed paid towing charge eventually refunded all money to customer,,, note that electrical system fully tested

 

[Donald]

My Corvette is making a squeaking noise on start up and lately it makes the noise almost all the time. It appears to be the alternator. A rebuilt is about $180.00 with the core trade in. Are the rebuilt alternators any good? I don't really want to pay $400 for a GM one which is shot at 71,000 miles but I don't want something that lasts a short time either.

See if you can find a local rebuilder.

 

[eljefino]

If the bearings go bad they are silly easy to change in a GM alternator, maybe others too.

Glad you found your problem.

 

[zzyzzx]

Depends, I had to put a reman Denso in my sig RX350 at 60k miles when the original bit the dust way too early and it’s been fine for the last 30k, but Denso is the OEM and I trust them and purchased from a trusted vendor so I knew it was a Denso remaned by Denso. Lexus dealer sells the exact same thing for 4x the price, reman Denso.

I think my original going belly up so early was an rare and unlucky hiccup. Not sure I’d use a parts store brand, but maybe they’re GTG, I just don’t know

I need to find the link, but I recall that Denso doesn't even replace the bearings unless they are bad. That's a deal breaker for me

 

[joekingcorvette]

Update: I drove the car a few miles and the noise got worse! I sprayed some belt dressing on the belt and it really started making lots of noise. It turned out to be the harmonic balancer it got really bad in a big hurry. I probably put 20 miles on the Corvette and it turned from a little noise to lots of noise and now its really wobbling. I might be able to drive it to the repair shop which is 4 miles away.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Good for about six months, maybe a year.

 

[BlakeB]

I put an all new alternator from Advance Auto on my sisters 05 Trailblazer in August of 2018. I ordered online and picked it up in store. I used an online order 25% off code, making it $148 after taking off the $12 core charge. It has a “limited lifetime warranty“. She has put about 6k miles on it since then with no issues.

 

[zzyzzx]

I put an all new alternator from Advance Auto on my sisters 05 Trailblazer in August of 2018. I ordered online and picked it up in store. I used an online order 25% off code, making it $148 after taking off the $12 core charge. It has a “limited lifetime warranty“. She has put about 6k miles on it since then with no issues.

That's a NEW alternator, not rebuilt. We expect a new one to work better than a rebuilt one.

When I was young and didn't know any better, I tried a rebuilt alternator that went up in smoke on it's first start.

 

[The Critic]

My experience: Zero issues with Denso reman alternators.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

"Good" for about six months to a year.

 

[tblt44]

Its a crap shoot.
New is most of the time better.(all new parts)
Rebuilt some new maybe low quality parts

 

[zzyzzx]

I need to find the link, but I recall that Denso doesn't even replace the bearings unless they are bad. That's a deal breaker for me

A fine example of this is here:

Replacing bad alternator in 2007 Honda CRV

I need to replace alternator on my 2007 Honda CRV. I am looking for some tips to perform the job most efficiently. Also, I need buy to the replacement alternator locally and am pretty much down to a Carquest reman (140) or new (made in China) (200). FWIW- My last alternator purchase for...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[AutoMechanic]

No. From my experience junk. Had to do one that was an 8 hour job all over because an alternator was bad out of the box. Never again I get new or the local rebuilder to do it.

 

[2009Caraman]

I've had good luck with rebuilt Remy. Last one had a slightly noisy pulley bearing but I really didn't want to exchange. The noise went away in 1000kms.

 

[Wolf359]

Got a rebuilt Duralast alternator from Autozone for my Mercedes E-350 for a tad under $200 which I think was just a Bosch one as it looked the same as the OEM one about 2.5 years ago. Still working fine. Has a lifetime warranty. Brand name new one was 2x-3x more.

 

[wildcatgoal]

My Tahoe's alternator at 204K had bad bearings so I bought a new Remy alternator for my Tahoe thinking new was better. It whined loudly instantly and sounded like I put a blower on the truck. Extremely annoying. Bad diode. Also charged at 15.1 amps... umm?

Replaced it with a AC Delco reman -- same length of warranty, cost less. Quiet and works perfectly, charging at 14.6 amps.

Now, the alternator I replaced was a rebuild put in at 127K. As is my luck, I found a receipt for that in the manual envelope a day or two after installing the new alternator and it I could have gotten it warrantied (Autozone lifetime warranty), but too late. Old one was already cored.

 

[eljefino]

amps or volts there chief?

 

[Tomioka]

Had to do an alternator replacement on a 2004 BMW 325i and was looking at local auto parts stores and rockauto.com. Rockauto had a brand new alternator for less than NAPA reman so I took a chance with the brand new alternator. Red flag #1: Not well-known brand (waiglobal) Red flag #2: white box alternator. Could be from a pile of rejects or B-grade quality. Red flag #3 no bench test data or birth sheet.

Took a chance and installed it. Car sounds like it has a turbo now. Took it on the freeway and battery light stayed off so it was ready to be sent out today. Was in the garage and revved the engine for giggles. Battery light came on, burning smell under the hood, mmm cooked diodes. New alt didn't like 6,000rpm revs and redline bounces. Quickly installed a NAPA reman right after that lol.