"Luken10" (luken10)
12/06/2014 at 16:48 • Filed to: None
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"Luken10" (luken10)
12/06/2014 at 16:48 • Filed to: None | 0
| 22 |
My alternator went kaput not to long ago. What is Oppo's consensus on buying a remanufactured alternator (autozone lifetime warranty $185) or getting my OEM unit rebuilt from a local guy ($95 one year warranty)?
I was going to try and rebuild it myself, but I was going to strip the screws in the process. I love wrenching on stuff untill bolts and screws become the main source of my headache.
Aaron James
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 17:09 |
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just get the lifetime one, unless you'll be selling your car in less than a year.
M54B30
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 17:19 |
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rebuilt lifetime. I just replaced mine for the 2nd time in 14 months. The install charges kind of blow, but at least the alternator is free
crowmolly
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 17:32 |
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Just curious, what car and how bad to change it?
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Luken10
> crowmolly
12/06/2014 at 17:51 |
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2003 Mazda Protege5. It took me about 3 hours to remove it last time, as you are supposed to remove a driveshaft and some other inconvenient parts. Now however, i can probably do it in an hour. It's probably a 6 out of 10 on the pain in the ass scale.
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Luken10
> M54B30
12/06/2014 at 17:52 |
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I don't understand why most remanufactured alternators don't last all that long. I seem to be getting the same consensus from everywhere else.
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crowmolly
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 17:52 |
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Not TOO terrible. I'd go with the lifetime one. If it pops just go grab another.
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Luken10
> Aaron James
12/06/2014 at 17:55 |
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Realistically, I'll be keeping my car for at least two more years. I'm trying to save money where I can, but it seems the $90 difference may not be worth it.
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Aaron James
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 17:58 |
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You can either spend the 90 bucks today or in a year when you need the alternator rebuilt again. If this is your daily driver that you depend on for transportation, I would find other ways to cut costs.
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Luken10
> crowmolly
12/06/2014 at 18:00 |
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There are autozones just about everywhere, so you do have a point. I was just wondering if I would have to worry about premature replacement if I had my own alternator rebuilt.
Bad72AMX
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:02 |
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Autozone rotating electrical is horrible. Close to 50% failure rate out of the box on some applications. That warranty is great, but doing the job two or three times doesn't make it worth it.
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Bad72AMX
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:04 |
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Because most brands only replace what appears to have failed and clean the rest. That means everything else is worn and potentially ready to fail.
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crowmolly
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:04 |
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Really hard to say. If they put the same internal parts in it won't make too much of a difference.
Since you aren't worried about a 100 point collector car I think the warranty may be better.
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Luken10
> Bad72AMX
12/06/2014 at 18:09 |
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Gotcha. I wonder how much it would cost to replace everything that is prone to failure.
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Luken10
> Bad72AMX
12/06/2014 at 18:12 |
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What brands would you reccomend? I went with autozone because of the lifetime warranty and it is about 5 minutes away from my house.
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Bad72AMX
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:12 |
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I'd spring for a quality reman (Napa) or OE, or ask the rebuilder what he'd charge to replace the bearings and the sensitive electronics. What kind of car is it?
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Luken10
> Bad72AMX
12/06/2014 at 18:15 |
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Mazda Protege5. I don't have a Napa near me, and the new OEM costs too much of i remember correctly.
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Bad72AMX
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:17 |
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I'd maybe ask the local guy what he'd charge to do all the wear items
Kaizer Soze
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:27 |
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Usually the thing that goes is the voltage regulator and if you get it from autozone they are the cheapest ones they could find. I would get the reman with the warranty and then swap out the voltage regulator.
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crowmolly
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 18:39 |
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On a hunch I contacted a buddy of mine. He said reman uses the case and gets all new internal parts where rebuilt only replaces what's busted in a lot of situations.
Take that FWIW
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 19:27 |
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how much for a new one?
RacinBob
> Luken10
12/06/2014 at 20:11 |
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Something you may want to avoid are bottom dollar rebuild distributors and alternators. The problem seems to be that they get really cheap regulators and ignitors. Plus they tend to reuse everything that hasn't clearly failed such as bearings. Thats the way it is when they are competing for bottom dollar.
Either get a premium reman or talk to the guy who does the rebuild and make sure that he is using OEM or similar name brand parts.
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Luken10
> crowmolly
12/06/2014 at 21:22 |
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Awesome! Thanks for looking to that for me. The one from Autozone says "remanufactured." Hopefully that is a good sign.