Don’t buy one from Autozone. I went through 4 or 5 of their junk alternators on a Frontier I used to have. Lifetime warranty but I was having to replace every 6 months to a year. And it’s a PITA on that truck.
which alternator brand TYC, REMY, Wai Global? any of these good?
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we dont have those here in canada for that matter ahah, i will probably get flamed for this but i dont even like supporting local part stores, in the past ive bought starters and alternators that the store would say " we've never had problems with" and then getting a problematic product within a few months. secondly, its not like im evening paying a good price by supporting local, its always some junk china stuff thats marked up 200%. i only like buying non electrical stuff from part sources or oem but even then its always 200% marked up
How easy is it to replace? I just changed one in my Fiat and it was a pain. Disconnect the strut from the knuckle so you can get the axle out of the knuckle. Access alt from under car and bolts by feel. Lifetime warranty is no bonus if you have to change it every 6 months. I might go with the MAGNETI MARELLI on that list. I'd rather have a rebuilt OEM part than some reverse engineered new Chinese part.
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its not that bad just want the car to be reliable, dont even want to do it again, i guess thats the benefit of paying more for delco or oem, but rn im leaning towards the remy new, good price and people seem to like them
If its a Denso reman leave it in the store, they are sketchy with their rebuilding process.
I have used AC Delco parts in my Ford vehicles with no issues to report two to three years out. The starter, alternator and power steering pump that went into them are still doing their job silently and efficiently.
I have also installed Remy electrical parts in GM and Dodge vehicles with no issues. I did think that my el cheapo TYC starter I threw into my 2011 Charger was a bad choice when the car would skip when starting. Except it wasn’t that $60 starter but a ground strap (engine to chassis) that disintegrated, causing a lot of electrical issues, including getting barely 13 volts at the battery terminals and the “cylinder deactivation solenoids” throwing engine codes (I had just replaced all of those this past Summer). I put a universal ground strap in and I’ve had no trouble with any of that since (I hope I didn’t jinx it now)...
I have also installed Remy electrical parts in GM and Dodge vehicles with no issues. I did think that my el cheapo TYC starter I threw into my 2011 Charger was a bad choice when the car would skip when starting. Except it wasn’t that $60 starter but a ground strap (engine to chassis) that disintegrated, causing a lot of electrical issues, including getting barely 13 volts at the battery terminals and the “cylinder deactivation solenoids” throwing engine codes (I had just replaced all of those this past Summer). I put a universal ground strap in and I’ve had no trouble with any of that since (I hope I didn’t jinx it now)...
Keep in mind the brand of reman is wholly unimportant. The rebuilder in Mexico stuffs the same inferior voltage regulators in it whether it says "Bosch" or anything.
Like AutoMechanic said above, 1st find someone locally if you can; they still exist. After that, get a new one and not rebuilt from a known good manufacturer.
I buy parts from reputable suppliers and rebuild them myself as I got tired of replacing the Auto Parts stores ones every few years under warranty. here's a good parts source, Romaine Electric:
Like AutoMechanic said above, 1st find someone locally if you can; they still exist. After that, get a new one and not rebuilt from a known good manufacturer.
I buy parts from reputable suppliers and rebuild them myself as I got tired of replacing the Auto Parts stores ones every few years under warranty. here's a good parts source, Romaine Electric:
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wow thanks a ton for the good info! so in my case, would you undoubtdly go with delco new for $220 cad or would you choose the remy $150? obvs quality wise the delco is gonna be better but is it worth being 1.5x more?
sadly here in canada and being in a small city dont got many options
Honestly $220cad for a new AC Delco sounds good. Last time I checked, that's $154 US roughly.
We have to pay $120 for an el-cheapo reman from local parts stores so I'd take that deal.
About five or six years ago, the alternator is one our cars failed. Fair enough, 250k miles on it (Lexus). She insisted the car run the next day so I was forced to go to O'Reillys and buy their store brand "Ultima." It failed about a year later, and that replacement failed about four months ago. So let's recap:
Original Denso alternator: 1 alternator in 13 years, 250k miles.
Major auto store rebuild: 3 alternators in five years, 70k miles, and fingers crossed I'm not replacing it again in a year or two.
And to drive this point home: a few months after her alternator failed, the one in my SUV did, too. I got the rebuild parts from Romaine electric linked above, rebuilt it myself. It's humming along fine now. It cost less than1/2 to rebuild it myself vs a store rebuild, also. So to answer your question, I don't think the AC Delco unit is 150% better than a rebuild or weird brand - it's probably more like 400% better.
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I put an Ultima on my friends Lexus and it lasted 4 hours and quit so I had to do that job over it’s 5 hours to get it off and 5 to get it on it sucked. Never again will I buy one there they were the only ones who had it.Honestly $220cad for a new AC Delco sounds good. Last time I checked, that's $154 US roughly.
We have to pay $120 for an el-cheapo reman from local parts stores so I'd take that deal.
About five or six years ago, the alternator is one our cars failed. Fair enough, 250k miles on it (Lexus). She insisted the car run the next day so I was forced to go to O'Reillys and buy their store brand "Ultima." It failed about a year later, and that replacement failed about four months ago. So let's recap:
Original Denso alternator: 1 alternator in 13 years, 250k miles.
Major auto store rebuild: 3 alternators in five years, 70k miles.
And to drive this point home: a few months after her alternator failed, the one in my SUV did, too. I got the rebuild parts from Romaine electric linked above, rebuilt it myself. It's humming along fine now. It cost less than1/2 to rebuild it myself vs a store rebuild, also. So to answer your question, I don't think the AC Delco unit is 150% better than a rebuild or weird brand - it's probably more like 400% better.
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ahah sounds good! out of the higher priced options i have ac delco and pure energy, and i feel like pure energy is just overpriced china junk so ac delco takes the win
Exactly, it's a hassle every time. The car dies somewhere - the last time there was no warning light at all - charge battery, limp home, go to store to have it tested, hours pulling it out/installing, return core, etc.
I've already decided if it fails again, forget the free replacement and I'll just use the stator/rotor/housing and rebuild the thing myself.
I believe very much in being frugal, not buying names, etc. But alternators are such a racket with rebuilds, I would absolutely go AC Delco in this case - and I'd be stoked frankly at that price - no regrets.
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Yeah I ended up loaning them one of my cars and ordering a quality one from RockAuto and they didn’t have another one in stock anyway so they were like well you will have to wait because we have to test this one then send it back to the company who re done it so it wasn’t worth the wait I just got my money back.
How sure are you Bosch does their rebuilding in Mexico? Please cite the source of that info.
I know in Europe the Bosch remans are done at a plant in Hungary and are good quality. I have a hard time believing they would put their name on some cheap crap, this needs to be looked into further.
Where did you get this info, Daniel Stern?
Not all bosch remans are factory certified; and I didn't mean to tar "Bosch" themselves. It's possible to get Bosch, Denso, etc. remans that aren't done by them. What I was trying to stress was to go with the vendor over the underlying material. That's what I was referring to. For example, "Angus Beef" doesn't imply it's gong to taste great. Depends upon whether Jack in the Box cooked it, or Smith & Wollensky's.
And a lot of the rebuilding is done in Mexico, you can find the details on the boxes and paperwork.
And a lot of the rebuilding is done in Mexico, you can find the details on the boxes and paperwork.
Mazda3lover, if you have any mechanical aptitude at all you can easily rebuild an alternator.
You should replace the bearings and brushes and it will be good to go for many years. You will need to insert some small metal rods to hold the brushes up while you put it back together. Long thin nails or other long skinny metal will work. They really are very easy to take apart and put back together. Your will need something to tap out the old bearings and put the new ones in. A socket that is the size of the bearings will work to tap it in.
Look at it this way. The brushes and bearing will be very low cost, and if you really can not get it back together and working, you can still use it as the core for buying one.
You should replace the bearings and brushes and it will be good to go for many years. You will need to insert some small metal rods to hold the brushes up while you put it back together. Long thin nails or other long skinny metal will work. They really are very easy to take apart and put back together. Your will need something to tap out the old bearings and put the new ones in. A socket that is the size of the bearings will work to tap it in.
Look at it this way. The brushes and bearing will be very low cost, and if you really can not get it back together and working, you can still use it as the core for buying one.
Not all bosch remans are factory certified; and I didn't mean to tar "Bosch" themselves. It's possible to get Bosch, Denso, etc. remans that aren't done by them. What I was trying to stress was to go with the vendor over the underlying material. That's what I was referring to. For example, "Angus Beef" doesn't imply it's gong to taste great. Depends upon whether Jack in the Box cooked it, or Smith & Wollensky's.
And a lot of the rebuilding is done in Mexico, you can find the details on the boxes and paperwork.
No problem, please dont take me the wrong way. I mean if Bosch has gone down the dark road of outsourcing to third rate outfits like so many others have then it is good to know and avoid them.
I am not so concerned about Mexico, lots of companies have opened plants there and are totally legit, I have a feeling in the not too distant future we will see a dramatic increase in this also.
It’s a crapshoot either way. Remy(Borg-Warner) bought out a competitor recently or so I think(BBB) and I had a ACDelco reman go bad on me. The TYC is Chinese or Taiwanese new which might be better than Mexican reman.
go with the one with the better warranty.
go with the one with the better warranty.
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